---
title: Ascertain the reason for which the mirror test may be deemed unsuite… — How scientists test animal minds: the… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the reason for which the mirror test may be deemed unsuited to the assessment of dogs. Exam question 2 of lesson 389 «How scientists test animal minds: the mirror test, puzzle boxes and Clever Hans» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of 
---

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# Exam question 2 · How scientists test animal minds: the mirror test, puzzle…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the reason for which the mirror test may be deemed unsuited to the assessment of dogs.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you · **What happens:** ascertain, deem, unsuit, assess · **To what, where:** reason, mirror test, dogs

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This is exam question 2 of lesson 389 «How scientists test animal minds: the mirror test, puzzle boxes and Clever Hans» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: [the test at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/389-how-scientists-test-animal-minds-the-mirror-test-puzzle-boxes-and-clever-hans/#e2).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:389-how-scientists-test-animal-minds-the-mirror-test-puzzle-boxes-and-clever-hans:e2:1
# text = Ascertain the reason for which the mirror test may be deemed unsuited to the assessment of dogs.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	reason	reason	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	11	obl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	mirror	mirror	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	test	test	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
9	may	may	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
10	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	deemed	deem	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	acl:relcl	_	_
12	unsuited	unsuit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	11	xcomp	_	_
13	to	to	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	assessment	assessment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
16	of	of	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the reason |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent reason=Topic |
| 2 | **deem** | may · passive |  | the mirror test |  |  |  | for the reason | tree rules |
| 3 | **unsuit** | participle |  |  |  |  |  | to the assessment of dogs | tree rules |
| 4 | **assess** |  |  | dogs |  |  |  |  | nom assessment «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dogs are incapable of sight

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:389-how-scientists-test-animal-minds-the-mirror-test-puzzle-boxes-and-clever-hans:e2:o1:1
# text = Dogs are incapable of sight
1	Dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	incapable	incapable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	sight	sight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | Dogs |  |  |  |  | of sight; incapable *property* | tree rules |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dogs invariably pass all tests

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:389-how-scientists-test-animal-minds-the-mirror-test-puzzle-boxes-and-clever-hans:e2:o2:1
# text = Dogs invariably pass all tests
1	Dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
2	invariably	invariably	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	pass	pass	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	5	det	_	_
5	tests	test	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pass** | present | Dogs | all tests |  |  |  | invariably *property* | vn escape-51.1-1-3 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme test=Trajectory |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dogs are prohibited from laboratories by law in most countries of Europe

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:389-how-scientists-test-animal-minds-the-mirror-test-puzzle-boxes-and-clever-hans:e2:o3:1
# text = Dogs are prohibited from laboratories by law in most countries of Europe
1	Dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj:pass	_	_
2	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	prohibited	prohibit	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	from	from	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	laboratories	laboratory	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
6	by	by	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	law	law	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
8	in	in	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	10	amod	_	_
10	countries	country	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	Europe	Europe	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **prohibit** | present · passive | law | Dogs |  | laboratories |  | in most countries of Europe | vn forbid-64.4-1 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Causer subject=Beneficiary from laboratory=Eventuality |

### Option 4 · ✓ the right answer {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The species perceives the world principally by the sense of smell

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:389-how-scientists-test-animal-minds-the-mirror-test-puzzle-boxes-and-clever-hans:e2:o4:1
# text = The species perceives the world principally by the sense of smell
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	species	species	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	perceives	perceive	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	world	world	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	principally	principally	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
7	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	sense	sense	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
10	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	smell	smell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **perceive** | present | the species | the world |  |  |  | by the sense of smell; principally *property* | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer world=Stimulus |
| 2 | **sense** |  |  | smell |  |  |  |  | nom sense «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- div src -->

**Text:** the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (`world/data/school/`), as the course runner gave them to the student. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

<!-- /div -->

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