What Is An Important Lesson Of The Story Of The Horse Clever Hans?

Published by Clayton Newton on

Oskar Pfundt discovered that “people can unconsciously communicate information to others by subtle movements and that some animals can perceive these unconscious movements.” Psychologists now call that “The Clever Hans Phenomenon.” This is one of the first examples of studying nonverbal communication.

What can we learn from Clever Hans?

What Clever Hans teaches us about being human is that there’s a danger to being so dazzled by the seeming impossibility of an animal’s intellect that we’re blinded to our own actions. Hans achieved something substantial, which was to open a dimension of human behavior that had previously been unstudied.

What is the most important lesson to take away from the Clever Hans incident?

The lesson from Clever Hans is that experiments need careful controls.

What was the main take home message of the Clever Hans story?

The take-home lesson of the “Clever Hans Phenomenon” is still valid but is unfortunately not respected by all members of the ethological community: During all studies of animal behavior, any face-to-face contact between the examiner and the experimental animal should be strictly avoided.

What is the story of Clever Hans?

Clever Hans, German der kluge Hans, a performing horse in Berlin in the late 19th and early 20th centuries celebrated for demonstrating remarkable intelligence. The feats performed by the horse were eventually explained as simple behavioral responses to subtle cues provided (perhaps unintentionally) by his handler.

Who solved the mystery of Clever Hans?

In 1904 the group issued a statement saying that they could find no evidence of trickery. However, professor Stumpf and one of his students, Oskar Pfungst, would finally solve the mystery.

How does the story of Clever Hans Act as an example of a self fulfilling prophecy?

The story of Clever Hans echoes the idea of the self-fulfilling prophecy in people leadership; the way that we treat others is subtly influenced by what we expect of them. In turn, these expectations have an impact on how the other person behaves and how they feel.

What happened to Clever Hans horse?

After von Osten died in 1909, Hans was acquired by several owners. After 1916, there is no record of him and his fate is unknown.

How did the case of Clever Hans impact the development of psychology?

Its recognition has had a large effect on experimental design and methodology for all experiments whatsoever involving sentient subjects (including humans). The risk of Clever Hans effects is one strong reason why comparative psychologists normally test animals in isolated apparatus, without interaction with them.

How did scientists discover the truth of Clever Hans?

During a series of experiments, Pfungst noticed that Clever Hans often didn’t know the correct answer when the questioner didn’t know it either. Furthermore, if the horse couldn’t see anyone who did know the answer, Hans didn’t respond correctly. It turned out Clever Hans had learned to detect subtle nonverbal cues.

What was Hans afraid of?

Hans said that he was especially afraid of white horses with black around the mouth who were wearing blinkers. Hans’ father interpreted this as a reference to his moustache and spectacles. The end of Hans’ phobia of horses was accompanied by two significant fantasies which he told to his father.

Was Hans the horse real?

Hans was a horse that lived in Germany in the early 20th century. He belonged to a man called Wilhelm von Osten. Von Osten was a teacher who taught mathematics at a local school. He was an amateur horse trainer.

What was little Hans afraid of?

In brief, Hans was a five-year-old who developed a phobia of horses after seeing one fall down and die. This phobia was a significant problem because there was significant horse traffic where Hans lived. Hans’s father sought out Freud to help Hans overcome his fear of horses.

How many Hans is a horse?

How tall is the average horse? The average horse measures between 13.3–17.3 hands tall (or 1.4–1.8 metres), but it should be noted that this figure includes all breeds.

How can I stop Clever Hans effect?

Some ways to prevent the Clever Hans Effect are for the experimenter to be unaware of the correct answers (a “double-blind” study), or to have the experimenter hidden out of sight of the subject. Either way, the experimenter is unable to inadvertently cue the subject to the correct answer.

How can the case of Clever Hans be chalked up to facilitated communication?

If some of the issues surrounding Clever Hans are reminiscent of Facilitated Communication (FC), it’s because these same, non-conscious cues are built-in to human communication. They can’t be turned on or off at will and are present during all kinds of interactions, be they human- to-animal or human-to-human.

Who was initially convinced that Hans the horse was demonstrating mathematical abilities?

In Germany during the 1900’s, Wilhelm Von Osten, a mathematics teacher, attempted to demonstrate that his horse, Hans, had outstanding intellectual abilities. He claimed Hans had this ability for quite some time.

How did Clever Hans solve arithmetic problems quizlet?

Wilhelm von Osten’s horse that could solve math problems by tapping his hoof. Psychologist Oskar Pfungst eventually discovered that Clever Hans was taking cues from von Osten when answering problems (when to start tapping and when to stop).

Can Clever Hans count?

Clever Hans could show directions by turning his head, could differentiate between “left” and “right”, identify colors, read the clock, recognize and identify playing cards, and understand a large number of different concepts. Not only could Hans count, he could perform arithmetic far beyond the fundamentals.

Why is it beneficial to study a limited range of behavior and environmental influences in a given study?

Why is It beneficial to study a limited range of behavior and environmental influences in a given study? due to the complexity of human behavior, psychologists cannot focus on all the variables that influence behavior, or all the different behaviors that are up our experience of any given event, in each study.

Contents

Categories: Horse