Visual Intelligence by art historian Amy E. Herman has
an intriguing subtitle: “Sharpen your Perception,
Change your Life.” She builds on her Art of Perception seminar and reviews research which suggests, for example, that taking
a brief mental break every 20 minutes actually helps with focus and attention and
that relaxing for 10 minutes (going for a walk, doing yoga or something else
fun) for every 90 minutes worked is also beneficial. Herman extols the virtues of quiet places as
being less distracting and offers mnemonics
like COBRA (Camouflage, One thing, Break, Realign expectations and Ask someone
else). Throughout Visual Intelligence, she provides everyday examples and encourages readers to deeply investigate pieces of art in order to build skills associated with empathy and observation. The following link leads to her lesson on "How Art can Help you Analyze." Herman also points out how “we
often miss the unexpected because we’re too focused on what we think should be
there.” 
Frans de Waal would undoubtedly agree with many of Herman's findings and apply them to the study of animals. De Waal's new book, Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?, is a fascinating look at human perception
of intelligence and how animals deal with their worlds. This new and entertaining
text has been the subject of numerous articles such as “What I Learned from Tickling Apes” (New York Times), “Can Squirrels Count?” (Washington Post) and “What People Can Learn from How Animals Think” (The Atlantic). A
professor of psychology at Emory University, de Waal draws on years of
experience and offers both new research and a penetrating look at the history
of human attitudes towards animal intelligence. Examples abound whether about
face recognition (studied in primates, sheep and certain wasps) or tool use (by
crows, primates and otters) and various forms of animal communication.
He says,
“There are many ways to process, organize and spread information, and it is
only recently that science has become open-minded enough to treat all these different
methods with wonder and amazement….” De
Waal’s work contains copious notes and an extensive bibliography. And de Waal’s Ted Talk on the Moral
Behavior of Animals has drawn over 3 million views:
.
Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart
Animals Are? received starred reviews from Kirkus, Library
Journal and Publishers Weekly.
