Intelligence and cognition of Elephant. Elephants exhibit mirror self-recognition, an indication of self awareness and cognition that has also been demonstrated in some apes and dolphins.
One study of a captive female Asian elephant suggested the animal was capable of learning and distinguishing between several visual and some acoustic discrimination pairs.
This individual was even able to score a high accuracy rating when re-tested with the same visual pairs a year later. Elephants are among the species known to use tools. An Asian elephant has been observed modifying branches and using them as flyswatters.
Tool modification by these animals is not as advanced as that of chimpanzees. Elephants are popularly thought of as having an excellent memory.
This could have a factual basis; they possibly have cognitive maps to allow them to remember large-scale spaces over long periods of time.
Individuals appear to be able to keep track of the current location of their family members
Cognition of an Elephant
Scientists debate the extent to which elephants feel emotion. They appear to show interest in the bones of their own kind, regardless of whether they are related.
As with chimps and dolphins, a dying or dead elephant may elicit attention and aid from others, including those from other groups. This has been interpreted as expressing “concern”; however, others would dispute such an interpretation as being anthropomorphic.
The Oxford Companion to Animal Behavior (1987) advised that “one is well advised to study the behavior rather than attempting to get at any underlying emotion”.