Based on the animal cognition experiments you have learned about, if you wanted to design a test of animal cognition, what might you include in your experiment? (Check all that apply.)A) Count the number of individuals in a colony.B) Create a problem for the animal to solve, like getting a treat out of a box.C) Determine ahead of time what parameters to record as data, such as how long it takes the animal to retrieve the treat.D) Determine the hormonal basis of caste differences.E) Expose the animal to the same scenario again later.F) Focus on careful quantitative analysis of fixed action patterns.G) Include a negative control.H) Include multiple subjects.J) Measure the frequency of response to sign stimuli.K) Provide tools for the animal to use.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

B, C, E, G, H, K

Clarify Question
• What is the key concept addressed by the question?
        o What would be the requirements for designing a experiment studying animal cognition.
• What type of thinking is required?
        o This is an apply question. You need to take what you know about animal cognition and apply it to this situation. This is a check-all-that-apply type of question; there are multiple correct answers. All of the choices are parts of an experiment. You need to select all of the choices that would be useful in designing an experiment that test animal cognition.

Gather Content
• What do you already know about animal cognition experiments? What other information is related to the question? 
        o Counting individuals, determining hormones levels, analyzing fixed action patterns, and measuring the response to key stimuli are all valid experimental objectives, but they do not provide any insight into an animal's cognitive ability. All of the other choices are good experimental design characteristics and will help assess the level of cognitive ability in the research animals.

Choose Answer
• Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
        o All of the other choices are good experimental design characteristics and will help assess the level of cognitive ability in the research animals.

Reflect on Process
• Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
        o Were you able to select all of the correct choices? The key to this apply question is to look at the choices are see if the information they provide will help measure an animal's cognitive ability.