Elephants Can Lend A Helping Trunk

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Have you ever heard someone say that elephants are smart? For years people have suspected that elephants are intelligent and empathetic animals. To test this theory scientists have been conducting experiments and observing elephants behaviors closely. In the articles, “Elephants Can Lend a Helping Trunk,” “Elephants Know When They Need a Helping Trunk in a Cooperative Task,” and “Elephants Console Each Other,” the authors go in depth to demonstrate the capabilities of elephants in these test and observations. The purpose of both authors’ writing is to describe the cognitive and sympathetic behavior in elephants when helping and consoling. Both authors wrote to show the cognitive and sympathetic nature of elephants who support one another. …show more content…

In the passage, “Elephants Know When They Need a Helping Trunk in a Cooperative Task,” Plotnik focuses on the experiment’s setup and how the scientists incorporated the elephants into it. He describes how the table apparatus is built and the volleyball net barrier made to keep the elephants away from it. He then goes in further details of how the elephants were tested alongside the setup. The text specifies that when split into two separate lanes, “The lanes did not seem to compromise the elephant’s ability to learn the experimental task contingencies.” Although the setup is kind of complex, Plotnik shows the elephants’ very apparent intelligence and understandings of the test. The text states, “In training trials, a mahout would walk with his elephant to the single available rope end and train his animal to pick up and pull the rope by using vocal commands.” This shows that the elephants were smart enough to understand vocal commands. The table under paragraph 5 shows that by the second day the untrained elephants had a greater success rate than those trained. The table gives more information to the test that Plotnik is writing about. It also shows how elephants have the capacity to notice what needs to be done even when not previously shown. To inform readers of elephants’ cognitive and emotional awareness when helping and …show more content…

In Morell’s second passage, “ Elephants Console Each Other,” she wrote about the observations made of elephants in stressful situations. Since, scientist can’t force stress on elephants Morell wrote on the subject of anecdotal observations. To do so, she defines Plotnik’s year long investigation of elephants behavior in the wild. Morell then writes of an event were one elephants rushed to the side of another and assumed the same behavioral actions. In the text it say, “Mae Perm also makes loud chirps, which are known to be reassuring calls, and then caresses Jokia with her trunk, finally placing it in Kokia’s mouth-an act which ‘might send a signal, ‘I’m here to help you, not hurt you,’” This shows signs of care much like a human hug, which if proof of elephants being sympathetic. She wrote about the post stress behavior too; in fact, it showed that elephants behavior did change once they recognized when they were needed. She wrote this passage to give light to evidence of elephants sympathetic ways. The passages were written by their authors’ to show elephants’ cognitive and sympathetic abilities when helping and consoling another

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