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Cited by 21Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skillsPrimate Behavior and EcologyAnimal Behavior and Welfare Studies

Summation by Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus)

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Irie, Naoko, Hasegawa, Toshikazu·2012·Behavioral Sciences
DOI 10.3390/bs2020050PMC PMC4217582
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Abstract

Recent empirical evidence for complex cognition in elephants suggests that greater attention to comparative studies between non-human primates and other animals is warranted. We have previously shown that elephants possess the ability to judge the difference between two discrete quantities, and unlike other animals, their choice does not appear to be affected by distance or overall quantity. In this study, we investigated Asian elephants’ ability to perform summation, as exemplified by the ability to combine four quantities into two sums and subsequently compare them. We presented two discrete sums (3–7) to the elephants by baiting two buckets; they were loaded sequentially with two discrete quantities (1–5 pieces) of food per bucket. All three elephants selected the larger grand sum significantly more often than the smaller grand sum. Moreover, their performance was not affected by either distance to the bait or the overall quantity evaluated. Studies report that the performance of other animal species on similar tasks declines as distance to the bait decreases and as the overall quantities evaluated increase. These results suggest that the numerical cognition of Asian elephants may be different from that of other animals, but further study is required to elucidate the differences precisely.

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  • The lack of disparity/distance or magnitude/size effects found by both Irie-Sugimoto et al. (2009) and Irie and Hasegawa (2012) led the authors to conclude that elephants may not represent numbers as approximations (i.e., accumulator model) but instead as separate memory files (i.e., object-file model).

    “Thus, the lack of disparity/distance or magnitude/size effects found by both Irie-Sugimoto et al. (2009) and Irie and Hasegawa (2012) led the authors to conclude that elephants may not represent numbers as approximations (i.e., accumulator model) but instead as separate memory files (i.e., object-file model; Kahneman et al., 1992).”

    From Do elephants really never forget? What we know about elephant memory and a call for further investigation (2025) · cites this paper as Irie & Hasegawa, 2012

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  • Irie-Sugimoto et al. (2009) and Irie and Hasegawa (2012) found that the performance of Asian elephants when discriminating between quantities of food remained consistent even when differences between the two quantities were small and when overall quantities were large.

    “Irie-Sugimoto et al. (2009) and Irie and Hasegawa (2012) found that the performance of Asian elephants when discriminating between quantities of food remained consistent even when differences between the two quantities were small and when overall quantities were large.”

    From Do elephants really never forget? What we know about elephant memory and a call for further investigation (2025) · cites this paper as Irie & Hasegawa, 2012

  • Irie and Hasegawa (2012) found that when different quantities of bait were dropped into two containers in two different rounds, Asian elephants chose the container with the greatest total amount of bait, suggesting that elephants were able to count and then add the quantities dropped into each container.

    “Irie and Hasegawa (2012) found that when different quantities of bait were dropped into two containers in two different rounds, Asian elephants chose the container with the greatest total amount of bait, suggesting that elephants were able to count and then add the quantities dropped into each container.”

    From Do elephants really never forget? What we know about elephant memory and a call for further investigation (2025) · cites this paper as Irie & Hasegawa, 2012

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Authors
Irie, N., & Hasegawa, T.
Affiliations
  • The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI (JP)
  • The University of Tokyo (JP)
Corresponding author
Irie, Naoko
Venue
Behavioral Sciences
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2012-03-27
Volume
2
Issue
2
Pages
50-56
ISSN
2076-328X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3390/bs2020050
PMC
PMC4217582
OpenAlex
W1976075064
Cited by
21
References
20
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 4
FWCI
2.75
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Behavioral Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (22-6613)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
  • Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
Keywords
Asian elephant, numerical cognition, quantity comparison, summation, animal cognition, non-human primates

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