How smart are T's?

minax

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What is everyones opinion on this , observations? Do they reason or forward plan? Or do you believe they are all instinct ? I'll add my thoughts later.
 

Devildoll

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while there are definatly things going on in their bodies other than instinct... i think 85% of what they do is instinct.
i do believe they have moods though, but i wouldn't be surprised to find these were physically related or even environmentaly or climate related.

don't give them much respect for intelligence.
 

Vayu Son

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yup. if they had basic intelligence they wouldnt walk off ping pong tables oblivious to the chasm-like drop.


-V
 

happymeal

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I think Tarantulas are smarter than what we give them credit for. We can't judge the Ts intelligence compared to ours. I do agree that a big part of it is instinct. I think a Tarantula can make decision just as any other creature, but to me is more like a light switch it's either "Yes I will", or "No I won't":?
 

Kenny

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Brain?

Hi..

I can be wrong here, but I think I read somewhere that T's have the "biggest" brain among these creatures.

Kenny
 

Code Monkey

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Re: Brain?

Originally posted by Kenny
I can be wrong here, but I think I read somewhere that T's have the "biggest" brain among these creatures.
T's have a two part brain situated like a donut in the bottom of the carapace, the pumping stomach passes right through it. It's roughly the size of the sternum plate - I don't of if that IS the largest, but that's a large invert brain. It is pretty sophisticated in that there is a section which handles autonomic functions and another section dedicated to cognitive functions.

All that said, how intelligent they are is debatable. I certainly don't like lobbing the word 'instinct' around because no matter what we like to kid ourselves about, 90% if not more of our behaviour is pure instinct driven at some level. To me, they and other spiders seem to be amongst the most intelligent of the arthropods - they've got the ability to distinguish between lots of different stimuli and can learn to process new objects and stimuli they aren't strictly pre-programmed for - as someone pointed out once, the fact that they can learn to use a water bowl is proof of some level of cognitive abstraction since drinking from a pool of water is something that many species never have the opportunity to do. Things like non-puncturing warning bites are another good indicator that they're more sophisticated than just a pure skinner box.
 

chaset

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Smarts

I think the fact that some T's can find clever ways to escape is amazing, I also think that the way T's can arrange there aquariums in a manner that suits what they want is also intelegent.
 

Cowshark

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I can be wrong here, but I think I read somewhere that T's have the "biggest" brain among these creatures.
Well, I've been reading up on spiders in general, and have read that jumping spiders have the biggest brains relative to body size. I think.:? Either way, they're rumored to be the most intelligent of spiders, and even can exhibit some rudimentary learning skills. Hey, they do their job well, so clearly whatever intelligence they may have, spiders are successful animals. FWIW.
 
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