• Question: do animals have a mental concept of the past

    Asked by EllaBella to Carrie on 16 Mar 2017.
    • Photo: Carrie Ijichi

      Carrie Ijichi answered on 16 Mar 2017:

      They do but it’s different from ours (except for a few really unusual species). We have episodic memory which means we can think back to anything we’ve experienced on purpose (where did I leave my car keys). But, every time we think back to something is corrupts the memory a little bit so it’s not perfect. Animal have recall memory where they can’t control it and they’ll remember something because of a trigger. They’re more like flashbacks but not all of them are bad. This type of memory is much more accurate though but they can’t think back on command.

      Hope that answers your very cool question!

Comments