<p>There are several animals on earth that show certain kinds of intelligence. Some animals have extensions to manipulate their environment and some do not. Think of humans and squids (hand/extension side) versus whales and dolphins on the other (the no hand side).
Learning how to use their hands also gives babies a boost in their development.</p>

<p>My question is: <strong>Does the ability to manipulate your environment affect the type of intelligence?</strong></p>

<p>I'm pretty sure that it affects the, let's call it generalized intelligence, but does it also change the type from more or less aggressive?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-09T22:56:25.913Z
What do you mean, 'Type' of intelligence? Are you arguing there is a correlation between the amount of limbs one has and how 'aggressive' a being is?
Steven Jeuris
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-10T01:55:12.263Z
Perhaps the following would be a useful starting point for theoretically grounding your question:  Wasserman, E. A. (1993)  Comparative Cognition: Beginning the Second Century of the Study of Animal Intelligence. Psychological Bulletin, 113 - 211-228 [PDF](http://www.niu.edu/user/tj0dgw1/pdf/learning/wasserman1993.pdf).
Jeromy Anglim
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-10T06:50:02.040Z
@StevenJeuris yes, exaclty!
draks ...
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-14T12:31:50.470Z
I'm afraid I can't help you out, but you could bump this question by editing it, taking [Jeromy's comment](http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/questions/849/does-the-ability-to-manipulate-your-environment-affect-the-type-of-intelligence#comment1734_849) into account. Perhaps you find the answer yourself. :) Don't forget you can also answer your own question.
Steven Jeuris
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-06-27T11:16:23.610Z
This question is very vague. What are the different 'types' of intelligence? How is aggressiveness related to anything? Also, please try to cite some of your claims like " Learning how to use their hands also gives babies a boost in their development." A boost in the development of what? Hand use (tautology)? Or general qualities associated with intelligence but not directly related to having hands: say language use?
Artem Kaznatcheev
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-20T23:25:48.053Z
I think you might be on to something, drak.  Beings with more "power" to manipulate their environment, could perhaps have a greater logical, cause-effect intelligence, since they have more experience in producing causes and observing effects.  A squid with limited ability to "cause" things will not have such a great understanding of cause-effect relationships.
Kenshin
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-22T14:28:24.007Z
Where would you put birds?  They don't have any more grabby appendages than dolphins, but there is quite a lot of work on various species' tool creation and use showing that they do modify their environment.
Krysta
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-23T05:13:30.473Z
@Krysta interesting, have you seen Alfred Hitchcock's "The birds"? Honestly, I have no idea, but if someone would force me to answer, I would put them on the more aggressive side. What do you think? Some time ago I thought about posting a question like:"Dinosaur and Birds have common ancestors. Could they have a common level of intelligence?", but I'm still not sure if this question would fit here...
draks ...
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-23T23:11:58.383Z
I'm voting to close this question until "aggressiveness" and the desired demonstrations of intelligence are clarified.
Seanny123
<social-psychology><intelligence><animal-cognition><behaviorism>
Does the ability to manipulate your environment affect the type of intelligence?
draks ...
# Does the ability to manipulate your environment affect the type of intelligence?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-05-09)

There are several animals on earth that show certain kinds of intelligence. Some animals have extensions to manipulate their environment and some do not. Think of humans and squids (hand/extension side) versus whales and dolphins on the other (the no hand side).
Learning how to use their hands also gives babies a boost in their development.

My question is: **Does the ability to manipulate your environment affect the type of intelligence?**

I'm pretty sure that it affects the, let's call it generalized intelligence, but does it also change the type from more or less aggressive?

**Tags:** social-psychology, intelligence, animal-cognition, behaviorism

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: What do you mean, 'Type' of intelligence? Are you arguing there is a correlation between the amount of limbs one has and how 'aggressive' a being is?  
> **username_2**: Perhaps the following would be a useful starting point for theoretically grounding your question:  Wasserman, E. A. (1993)  Comparative Cognition: Beginning the Second Century of the Study of Animal Intelligence. Psychological Bulletin, 113 - 211-228 [PDF](http://www.niu.edu/user/tj0dgw1/pdf/learning/wasserman1993.pdf).  
> **username_0**: @StevenJeuris yes, exaclty!  
> **username_1**: I'm afraid I can't help you out, but you could bump this question by editing it, taking [Jeromy's comment](http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/questions/849/does-the-ability-to-manipulate-your-environment-affect-the-type-of-intelligence#comment1734_849) into account. Perhaps you find the answer yourself. :) Don't forget you can also answer your own question.  
> **username_3**: This question is very vague. What are the different 'types' of intelligence? How is aggressiveness related to anything? Also, please try to cite some of your claims like " Learning how to use their hands also gives babies a boost in their development." A boost in the development of what? Hand use (tautology)? Or general qualities associated with intelligence but not directly related to having hands: say language use?  
> **username_4**: I think you might be on to something, drak.  Beings with more "power" to manipulate their environment, could perhaps have a greater logical, cause-effect intelligence, since they have more experience in producing causes and observing effects.  A squid with limited ability to "cause" things will not have such a great understanding of cause-effect relationships.  
> **username_5**: Where would you put birds?  They don't have any more grabby appendages than dolphins, but there is quite a lot of work on various species' tool creation and use showing that they do modify their environment.  
> **username_0**: @username_5 interesting, have you seen Alfred Hitchcock's "The birds"? Honestly, I have no idea, but if someone would force me to answer, I would put them on the more aggressive side. What do you think? Some time ago I thought about posting a question like:"Dinosaur and Birds have common ancestors. Could they have a common level of intelligence?", but I'm still not sure if this question would fit here...  
> **username_6**: I'm voting to close this question until "aggressiveness" and the desired demonstrations of intelligence are clarified.  

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