Insightful problem solving in an Asian elephant

Abstract

The "aha" moment or the sudden arrival of the solution to a problem is a common human experience. Spontaneous problem solving without evident trial and error behavior in humans and other animals has been referred to as insight. Surprisingly, elephants, thought to be highly intelligent, have failed to exhibit insightful problem solving in previous cognitive studies. We tested whether three Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) would use sticks or other objects to obtain food items placed out-of-reach and overhead. Without prior trial and error behavior, a 7-year-old male Asian elephant showed spontaneous problem solving by moving a large plastic cube, on which he then stood, to acquire the food. In further testing he showed behavioral flexibility, using this technique to reach other items and retrieving the cube from various locations to use as a tool to acquire food. In the cube's absence, he generalized this tool utilization technique to other objects and, when given smaller objects, stacked them in an attempt to reach the food. The elephant's overall behavior was consistent with the definition of insightful problem solving. Previous failures to demonstrate this ability in elephants may have resulted not from a lack of cognitive ability but from the presentation of tasks requiring trunk-held sticks as potential tools, thereby interfering with the trunk's use as a sensory organ to locate the targeted food.

Figure 1. Elephants in Experimental Conditions.

(A) An overhead view of the positioning of the elephant tub, sticks and suspended baited branch, with one of the adult female elephants. (B) The juvenile male, Kandula, standing on the cube and reaching for the branch baited with food.

Figure 2. Kandula's Use of the Cube as a Tool.

(A) The number of times Kandula rolled the cube in each session that culminated in its use as a tool (i.e., moving the cube, standing on it and reaching for an object) or other movement (e.g., random movement of cube without standing on it) across trials. (B) Latency to the initial rolling of the cube for use as a tool to acquire food in each session. Distances of the initial placement of the cube from food are marked in meters (m). In session 12, the cube was placed on the opposite side of a fence which the elephant could walk around. In sessions 13 and 14, the cube was placed within the entryway to the adjacent yard, a position not visible upon entry from the elephant house.