---
title: What would happen if a scientist always smiled when the animal got n… — How scientists test animal minds: the… · tree and pragmatics
description: What would happen if a scientist always smiled when the animal got near the right answer? Test 8 · ★★★ 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 questi
---

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# Test 8 · ★★★ · How scientists test animal minds: the mirror test, puzzle…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
What would happen if a scientist always smiled when the animal got near the right answer?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 2 · **The right answer:** option 4 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** scientist, animal · **What happens:** happen, smile, get · **To what, where:** right answer

<!-- .vabout -->
This is test 8 · ★★★ 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/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:389-how-scientists-test-animal-minds-the-mirror-test-puzzle-boxes-and-clever-hans:t8:1
# text = What would happen if a scientist always smiled when the animal got near the right answer?
1	What	what	PRON	WP	PronType=Int	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	happen	happen	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	scientist	scientist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
7	always	always	ADV	RB	PronType=Tot	8	advmod	_	_
8	smiled	smile	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	advcl	_	_
9	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	12	advmod	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
12	got	get	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	advcl	_	_
13	near	near	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
16	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **happen** | would |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **smile** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | a scientist |  |  |  |  | always *property* | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **get** | past | the animal |  |  | the right answer |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer |

<!-- .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 -->
The scientist would get the answer wrong

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:389-how-scientists-test-animal-minds-the-mirror-test-puzzle-boxes-and-clever-hans:t8:o1:1
# text = The scientist would get the answer wrong
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	scientist	scientist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	_
7	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **get** | would | the scientist | the answer |  |  |  | wrong *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer answer=Stimulus |

### Option 2 · ← Mova's choice {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The animal would solve it better for real, because it would feel happy and calm

<!-- fold The tree, 15 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:389-how-scientists-test-animal-minds-the-mirror-test-puzzle-boxes-and-clever-hans:t8:o2:1
# text = The animal would solve it better for real, because it would feel happy and calm
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	solve	solve	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	obj	_	_
6	better	good	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	4	xcomp	_	_
7	for	for	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
10	because	because	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
11	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
12	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
13	feel	feel	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
14	happy	happy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	xcomp	_	_
15	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
16	calm	calm	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **solve** | would | the animal | it |  |  |  | good *property* | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Topic |
| 2 | **feel** | would | animal |  |  |  |  | happy *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V ADJ»: agent=Stimulus |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Nothing, animals never notice faces

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:389-how-scientists-test-animal-minds-the-mirror-test-puzzle-boxes-and-clever-hans:t8:o3:1
# text = Nothing, animals never notice faces
1	Nothing	nothing	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Neg	3	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	1	punct	_	_
3	animals	animal	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
4	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	5	advmod	_	_
5	notice	notice	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	faces	face	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **notice** | present | Nothing animals | faces |  |  |  |  | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S»: agent=Experiencer face=Stimulus |

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

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The animal might learn to read the smile, not solve the task

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:389-how-scientists-test-animal-minds-the-mirror-test-puzzle-boxes-and-clever-hans:t8:o4:1
# text = The animal might learn to read the smile, not solve the task
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	animal	animal	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
3	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	learn	learn	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	6	mark	_	_
6	read	read	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	xcomp	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	smile	smile	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
10	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	11	advmod	_	_
11	solve	solve	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	conj	_	_
12	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	task	task	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **learn** | might | the animal |  |  |  |  |  | vn learn-14-2-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **read** | to-infinitive | the animal *not said here* | the smile |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent smile=Topic |
| 3 | **not** **solve** | infinitive | the animal *not said here* | the task |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent task=Topic |

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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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