ABSTRACT
The investigation of animal cognition and mental experience is beginning to reveal that animals guide their behavior by surprisingly complex thinking. The versatile adaptability of some animals in the face of unpredictable challenges suggests simple conscious thinking about alternative actions and their probable results. When animals communicate with each other, their communicative signals may provide objective data about their thoughts. Although this “window” on animal thoughts may not be ideally transparent, it can help us to escape from the lingering inhibitions of behaviorism that have impeded research into animal minds. Simple conscious thinking may be an efficient and economical mode of operation by which the central nervous systems enable animals to cope with the multiple problems of finding food, avoiding predators, finding mates, and raising young. If so, it may be most advantageous for animals with small brains.
