By Peter Lloyd for MailOnline
Published: 18:56 BST, 21 May 2019 | Updated: 19:14 BST, 21 May 2019
View
comments
Pessimism is infectious among ravens.
That's the conclusion of researchers who studied the birds in a bid to observe their intelligence and empathy, earlier this month.
Staff from the University of Vienna performed a cognitive bias test on the Gothic-looking animals, which monitored their reactions to neutral stimuli.
The findings show that, like humans and primates, they possess a level of emotional affinity and awareness.
Empathy: Staff from the University of Vienna performed a cognitive bias test on the Gothic-looking animals, which monitored their reactions to neutral stimuli
To test this, researchers denied one bird the promise of 'tasty' food.
When a second bird was introduced to watch this, they showed a suspicion of other offerings - and erred on the side of cynicism.
In other words, they shared empathy with
