how do scientists come to the conclusion that certain animals have the intelligence of a ____ year old?

Question

I hear an octopus has the intelligence of a 7 year old or a monkey is as smart as a 5 year old….. how they figure that out.

In: Other

Answer 1

Intelligence is incongruent. Some animals are very good at one aspect of intelligence, like puzzle solving, and others aren’t, but are very good at language adaptation. Others have great dexterity — a trait that generally goes down with the strength most animals are known for — and others still have social intelligence. Biology basically says brain matter is ‘expensive’. It needs a lot of foodfuel, so any animals within the food chain typically don’t explode in universal competence until they’re doing quite well, AND would do better if they were smarter.

Sharks, for example, do great even though they’re dumb as hell, and haven’t changed in millions of year.

So any statements that compare human children are usually only comparing partial factors, like particular aspects one might see in a child.