---
title: «my dog barks at the mirror then ignores it, so dogs are dumb» What… — How scientists test animal minds: the… · tree and pragmatics
description: «my dog barks at the mirror then ignores it, so dogs are dumb» What is the best reasoning? Test 1 · ★★★ 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 the quest
---

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# Test 1 · ★★★ · How scientists test animal minds: the mirror test, puzzle…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
«my dog barks at the mirror then ignores it, so dogs are dumb» What is the best reasoning?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 2 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** dog, dogs, best reasoning · **What happens:** bark, ignore, be · **To what, where:** dog

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This is test 1 · ★★★ 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. 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/#t1).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:389-how-scientists-test-animal-minds-the-mirror-test-puzzle-boxes-and-clever-hans:t1:1
# text = «my dog barks at the mirror then ignores it, so dogs are dumb» What is the best reasoning?
1	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	barks	bark	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	advcl	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	mirror	mirror	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	_
8	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	9	advmod	_	_
9	ignores	ignore	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
12	so	so	ADV	RB	_	15	advmod	_	_
13	dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	nsubj	_	_
14	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
15	dumb	dumb	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	15	punct	_	_
17	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	15	advcl	_	_
18	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	cop	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
20	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	21	amod	_	_
21	reasoning	reasoning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **bark** *in a quote* | present | my dog |  |  |  |  | at the mirror | vn animal\_sounds-38 «NP V PP.stimulus»: agent=Agent at mirror=Stimulus |
| 2 | **ignore** *in a quote* | present |  | dog |  |  | then |  | vn neglect-75.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Theme |
| 3 | **is** *in a quote* | present | dogs |  |  |  |  | dumb *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **is a** | present | the best reasoning |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

<!-- .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 cannot see at all

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:389-how-scientists-test-animal-minds-the-mirror-test-puzzle-boxes-and-clever-hans:t1:o1:1
# text = Dogs cannot see at all
1	Dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
4	see	see	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	at	at	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	4	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **see** | can | Dogs |  |  | all |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A dog lives by smell, so a mirror test does not suit it

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:389-how-scientists-test-animal-minds-the-mirror-test-puzzle-boxes-and-clever-hans:t1:o2:1
# text = A dog lives by smell, so a mirror test does not suit it
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	dog	dog	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	lives	live	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	smell	smell	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
7	so	so	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	mirror	mirror	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	compound	_	_
10	test	test	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
11	does	do	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
12	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	13	advmod	_	_
13	suit	suit	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	conj	_	_
14	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **live** | present | a dog |  |  |  |  | by smell | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme by smell=Location |
| 2 | **not** **suit** | present · do-support | a mirror test | dog |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Dogs know mirrors are fake so they ignore all tests

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:389-how-scientists-test-animal-minds-the-mirror-test-puzzle-boxes-and-clever-hans:t1:o3:1
# text = Dogs know mirrors are fake so they ignore all tests
1	Dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	know	know	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	mirrors	mirror	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	fake	fake	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	ccomp	_	_
6	so	so	ADV	RB	_	8	advmod	_	_
7	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	ignore	ignore	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	advcl	_	_
9	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	10	det	_	_
10	tests	test	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **know** | present | Dogs |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is** | present | mirrors |  |  |  |  | fake *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **ignore** | present | mirrors *= mirror* | all tests |  |  |  |  | vn neglect-75.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent test=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Yes, dogs are dumb

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:389-how-scientists-test-animal-minds-the-mirror-test-puzzle-boxes-and-clever-hans:t1:o4:1
# text = Yes, dogs are dumb
1	Yes	yes	INTJ	UH	Polarity=Pos	5	discourse	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	dogs	dog	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	dumb	dumb	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
```

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

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**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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