ABSTRACT
Comparative animal cognition often involves the inability as well as the ability of animals to perform cognitive tasks. The question and the theme of this chapter is, are these inabilities a limitation of the capacity of the animal or are they a limitation of the experimenter’s ability to design the tests such that the animals can express their ability (e.g., to learn abstract concepts)? There are many things that each animal species (including humans) cannot do; each species has its limitations. But when cognitive capacities are considered, we should be asking whether or not animals can perform such cognitive tasks under conditions best suited for them to reveal these capacities.
