Can this Cuttlefish Pass an Intelligence Test Designed for Children?
Witness a hungry, color-changing cuttlefish take part in an oddly adorable, psychological test. Following days of training, the cuttlefish is faced with the decision to strike and devour one of two tempting prey: Will it wait for the live crayfish or immediately strike the shrimp? Its intriguing behavior is challenging our understanding of the origins of intelligence.
This groundbreaking experiment was adapted from the Stanford Marshmallow Test, originally designed for children.
PRODUCTION CREDITS:
Produced, Directed, and Narrated by Greg Kestin
Senior Digital Producer: Ari Daniel
Executive Producers: Julia Cort and Chris Schmidt
Consultants: Aaron Blaisdell, Josep Call
Camera: Greg Kestin, Shaun Hepple, Emily Zendt
READ more in the research paper “Cuttlefish exert self-control in a delay of gratification task” https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2020.3161
Authors:
Alexandra K. Schnell
Nicola S. Clayton
Markus Boeckle
Micaela Rivera
Roger T. Hanlon
Special Thanks:
Tina Newberry
Kelly Sowers
Joe Porter
Mitchell Salley
Brennan Schaefer
P.J. Donahoe
Edward Thomson
Sara Cooper
Kendra Buresch
Chris Matulis
Denise Semedo
E.J. Masicampo
Timothy Huang
Music: APM
Sound Effects: Freesound.org
Stock footage: Videoblocks, Pond 5, Shutterstock
Funding by: Foundational Questions Institute Franklin Fetzer Fund
This project was supported by grant number FQXi-RFP-1822 from the Foundational Questions Institute and Fetzer Franklin Fund, a donor advised fund of Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
© WGBH Educational Foundation 2021
@RockMaster139
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
What species can REALISTICALLY pass at intelligence tests for ADULTS with IQs of 90 or higher?
@no-ux
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
how do they know it wasnt just distracted by the live prey?
@Icr8tor_Official
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
I work with severely autistic children, and I stumbled upon this video which piqued my interest more than just searching for videos on cuttlefish.
I wish the video explained how they nutured this animal on delayed graification. That is what I'm trying to teach these kids each day without me dying. 😂
How long did it take for the cephalopod to realize that he gets a better more exhilarating meal if he waits?
Adorable kids, Adorable cephalopod. Absolutely FASCINATING video! Thank you for sharing! 💜
@8SpoiledCats
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
That is fascinating. I just goes to show you; animals aren't stupid.
@roha5220
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
Gotta love how at 3:24 when the team is introduced, they focus on the cuttlefish when they say colleagues, lovely little detail! Cuttlefish are some of my favorite animals!
@ghostinng274
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
Cuttlefish are the cutest weird looking creatures
@Blackadder75
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
they should be called cuddlefish , the little cuties
@danfelder8062
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
Gonna give my kid a similar test and say it was designed for cuttlefish.
@WandererYukio_Genshin
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
Why can't they stay camouflage? Is it some sort of muscle contraction which they have to relax first?
@Aerational
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
A bird in hand is worth 2 in the bush. Leave it to modern "researchers" to be too stupid to properly identify the smart kids.
@lexzbuddy
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
I'm not a fan of marshmallows so that would have been a waste of time for me. As a kid, I was really patient, my parents always said so. So, No matter what was put in front of me, I'd wait, think about it etc.
@Mainestreamer
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
The food
"let me tell you something"
@Mainestreamer
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
The one that made a human face blew my mind.
@fiberologist
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
Rejoice world. Scientists for the umpteenth time prove animals possess intelligence…in a maximally unethical and speciesist experiment. I especially liked the scientist calling the live shrimp just food and the funny music and sound effects when the helpless creature, without any chance of escaping the predator like in nature was ground up alive.
And what now? We already knew a lot of cephalopods are pretty intelligent. Nonetheless soon octopi factory farms are a reality. Doesn't seem the people who want those are affected in any way by their victims showing pretty obvious signs of intelligence. Doesn't seem to affect the majority of humans that fish do feel pain indeed as shown in recent experiments. Who could have forseen that a creature with a brain and nerves does feel pain? Surely more cruel experiments to further evaluate that animals aren't just unfeeling automatons instead of research on cultivated meat or dairy are needed.
@jasonparadis
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
Quentin Tarantino narrating.
@24tommyst
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
Why do we want to go find aliens again?? The odds of finding anything cooler than this are about zero.
@desydukuk291
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
It's voice fry again.
@mybestideas1
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
Poor shrimp, eaten alive 🙁
@thomass4965
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
I’m just watching this now September 2025. Did anyone notice they are talking about a lab in Cambridge Massachusetts but show a building with a University of Chicago sign?
@maryconner9577
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
Isn't that torture to the live bait?
@dimpyra
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
The fact that they didn't do 1 live vs 2 live doesn't sit right with me
@Plastic_Free
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
Please, people! insert a warning sign at the beginning when you put a snake face in your video
@kerry5586
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
Poor live prey.
@mayastrong4646
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
Testing on animals is wrong and horrific. It’s well known the psychological test this one doesn’t seem very harmful but this scientist lady talking as if she actually has a conscience. I don’t know how people can do the horrific testing that they do on animals humans need to leave animals alone. There’s other ways to test technology is a great one today you can grow lab tissue and skin and all kinds of things to test on. We don’t need to torture and torment monkeys.
@S1nwar
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
amazing experiment with actual new insights on the fundamentals of intelligent behaviour. conservative headline "they feed marshmallows to octopuses"
@Zaza420islit
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
H
@TardigradeTough
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
But I thought god gave us intelligence to separate us from animals? Are you telling me these god stories aren't totally accurate? 🤭
@m.g7809
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
You haven't demonstrated at all that the cuttlefish will even eat the non-live meat.
@AK-jt7kh
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
This experiment shouldn’t be live prey vs dead prey. The cuttlefish might prioritize food that can move over food that doesn’t instinctively
@helenamcginty4920
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
Good job I wasnt involved in the kids v marshmallow thing. I have always disliked marshmallow. Chocolate now……..
@michelehemlokhexwhite4310
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
My favourite sea critter 😍❤️😍
@bkm2797
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
Love test like this, it proves all living animals are sentient.
@bentspoon1805
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
All of these so called 'research scientists' are sadistic, cruel, heartless, sick wankers.
They take years doing useless 'research' conducting inhumane, barbaric experiments
on hapless animals for shitloads if money in grants.
@RonaldStaley-y7s
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
Interesting.
@itdoesntmatter2670
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
I can confidently say that the shrimps aren't supportive of this experiment
@lukaspixner2482
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
I did this test when I was a child as well and I’m proud to say I immediately went for the live prey.
@TrueXyrael
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
Here's the real trick: the cuttlefish is a supremely social creature, being part of the networked hivemind of Cthulhu
@teabagmcpick889
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
The real question is why the shrimp doesn't swim back up the tube once it sees the cuttlefish
@alanpreston1822
October 16, 2025 at 6:57 pm
Anytime I hear cuttlefish now I can't help but recall the humancentipad…..thanks Southpark.
Comments are closed.