How general is cognitive ability in non-human animals? A meta-analytical and multi-level reanalysis approach.

ABSTRACT: General intelligence has been a topic of high interest for over a century. Traditionally, research on general intelligence was based on principal component analyses and other dimensionality reduction approaches. The advent of high-speed computing has provided alternative statistical tools that have been used to test predictions of human general intelligence. In comparison, research on general intelligence in non-human animals is in its infancy and still relies mostly on factor-analytical procedures. Here, we argue that dimensionality reduction, when incorrectly applied, can lead to spurious results and limit our understanding of ecological and evolutionary causes of variation in animal cognition. Using a meta-analytical approach, we show, based on 555 bivariate correlations, that the avera

SUBMITTER: Poirier MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7739923 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature