Teaching an Octopus Through Video - Octopus TV Room - Episode 2

We know that octopuses are intelligent. We know they're very capable of learning to perform tasks that they would never encounter in the wild. We've seen them clearly react to a TV screen in episode 1 of this series. Why not try to teach these little guys how to do something by using video?
On the first day, we placed the octopus into the experiment tank with a clear, plexiglass box. The only way to get to the crabs is by completely pulling out the blue rod. Our octopus was somewhat distracted by the potential meal staring right at him. He explored the box, from top to bottom, but did not, at any point, attempt to remove the rod. After 90 minutes, he walked away from the box, got into his den, and called it quits.
On the second day, our octopus was a little less enthusiastic at the prospect of reaching the crabs. He circled the box a few times and paid absolutely no attention to the rod. We left him in the experiment tank for a little over 2 hours. He displayed a defeatist attitude on the second day from almost the very beginning. It was clear that he was not going to open the box.
The third day was very different. We placed our octopus in the tank once again with the plexiglass box. This time, there was a training video on the screen behind him that showed him exactly how to open the box. He did not immediately see the video. He circled the box a few times before his eyes locked onto the screen. Our octopus was immediately drawn to the video. He moved away from the box and closer to the video, as if to get a clearer view of what was going on. He got comfortable in his little den and watched the video. We thought about handing him a bag of popcorn, but who likes soggy popcorn? He watched the video from his den for about 25-30 minutes before decisively charging the box, pulling out the rod, and accessing the crabs.
It was not the fact that he had succeeded in opening the box that excited us. Even without the video, we're sure that this little fellow would eventually figure it out. He paid close attention to what was going on in the video, and he tackled the box as if he was sure of what he needed to do, this is what convinced us that we had in fact, taught an octopus through video.
A positive result in this experiment opens up a new world of possibilities for us. This is why we're so excited about this particular video and can't wait to hear your thoughts on what else we can teach our octopus in our Octopus TV Room. Is there something you'd like to teach an octopus? Got an idea for a training video? We'd love to hear from you!

[@dianalovescolors]

If the crabs had watched the video, they would've known to hold on to the other end of the tube with all their might.

[@theelysium1597]

thought something similar ^^

[@TonatiuhMellado]

😆😆🤣

[@juliethoke4775]

Yes

[@tompearce3053]

instead, they're watching it thinking, we're done for if this guy figures it out.

[@docsekzi8968]

I cheered when the octopus held up the blue pole like Excalibur. Epic moment! Thank you.

[@V1ctoria00]

It was buoyant. It was dragging him up and he didn't know what to do about it.

[@pal7252]

Right! 😃

[@karlitas35way]

I cheered and clapped then looked at the crab and said “Oh No!”

[@pal7252]

@@karlitas35way 😳

[@epiphonium]

I cheered too

[@PheonixArizen]

Notice how he got up on his "eyeball" cave to get at eye level and watch more closely! Such a smart Boy!

[@obscuredxbw]

notice how you're imagining things based on what the video is cropped to show you

[@PheonixArizen]

@@obscuredxbw Who peed in your eggnog scrooge?

[@JamesMichael333]

That is insane! You can tell the exact moment the octopus realized it. It literally zoomed to the box and within seconds was trying to remove the blue bar. Simply incredible. Amazing intelligence. I have to say, I’m also very surprised the octopus actually needed the video to figure it out.

[@TheButterflyEffectWhatIf]

From my observations it seems octopuses spend a long time thinking and planning in their mind before actually performing a task, but when they do, they usually do it perfectly the first time so long as it "clicks" in their mind and they get it, which leads me to believe the possibility that they can visualize the act before performing it, and plan for contingencies as if they think or know that they only have one chance to perform it properly. It is almost as if they are preparing and psyching themselves up before striking, as they would do as if hunting prey.

[@marshawargo7238]

​@@TheButterflyEffectWhatIf Yes! Because, in the wild, sometimes there's no surviving mistakes! I'm sure they rarely get second chances...😢

[@NewMessage]

Who says TV rots your brain? Crabs... that's who.

[@sallyviolet13]

Yes! Great comment!

[@mookyo9602]

Hahahahahahaha✌

[@TheAcquibajo]

Hahahahaha!

[@jeanette590]

Lol

[@DaffneyDalilah]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@BeeSting862]

It would be interesting to establish if the octopus can associate the solution with the problem when they are not accessible at the same time. I would suggest initially showing him a similar puzzle, without giving him access to it. After a while, hide the puzzle and show him a looped video of the solution for a while. Then stop the video, place the puzzle in the tank and see if he can remember and associate the solution. Another development of the theme would be to introduce multi-level puzzles, possibly where he has to access or modify a tool in order to use that to access the box - e.g. accessing a bar to use as a lever to open a bayonet catch on the box.

[@notlikely2634]

excellent idea

[@SandDancing]

I would love to see this experiment as well.

[@jimmypop4539]

They have great memories, My bet would be yes... They remember and plan.. The coconut octopus for example. An octopus planned for a long journey through an area without reef or cover, so it found 2 coconut halves and carried them with it, throughout the entire trip.. Using it as a shelter, when needed.. And it didnt look easy for it to carry the 2 halves either.. So I would bet that they would be able to solve all sorts of problems.. and they already use tools, so they are in the top 5 smartest animals in the world.

[@SA-wu4lv]

That experiment was done years ago: /watch?v=GQwJXvlTWDw

[@SoRePeSi]

When you can't get past the video game level and look up a walkthrough and go "Everything makes sense now"

[@boneythelynx8884]

Lolz

[@gemonly4u]

So true

[@MakeAsylumsGre4tAgain]

See I don’t understand people who use walkthroughs. Most of the fun in a game is figuring it out.. it’s like being told Bruce Willis is dead before watching the movie. Ruins it

[@Noble4Truths]

That is so impressive!! It shows how intelligent they are, and can observe and then replicate tasks. Wow!!

[@BigHushAffiliate]

@An Meme I eat them. 🤤

[@h-Films]

@@BigHushAffiliate :(

[@BigHushAffiliate]

@@h-Films They’re good. Especially with a little lemon and chile. Yum yum yummers yum. Its so goooood. This guy says it best: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y3fVoaiGgb6hrLs

[@youraverageperson6211]

@@BigHushAffiliate I reccomend trying homemade slighty cooked pufferfish, its amazing and gets better everytime you eat it

[@rexmann1984]

What I think makes this so impressive is that he didn't see another octopus open the box he saw a human open the box and was able to infer how an octopus needs to move to do the same task.

[@TheAcquibajo]

Wooooow!!! That was really amazing to watch. Did everyone notice how excited he was when suddenly he realized what he needed to do to get the crab?? Just amazing. 🐚🐙🐙🐙👍👍

[@Morristown337]

man such an amazing video but we didn't get to see him eat the crabs. I wanted to see his satisfaction after days of not being able to get it and finally getting his reward. Good job but please let us see just a bit longer.

[@Morristown337]

@Ramsey Boushakra Im more wanting to see the octopus satisfied and enjoy a meal he has been staring at wanting for hours and days. So cool that he can do that though. I wander if he can now teach another octopus to do it without the video?

[@user-ct4xx7fr2d]

Really enjoyed it was super proud of of the octopus

[@dianalovescolors]

That was amazing. You could see him studying the Tv, stopping home to think a bit, then going for it! 35 minutes. That's crazy how smart it is.

[@depizixuri58]

If Octo really starts waiting every day for the instructions, it would show amazing intelligence.

[@patty7791]

I almost had a heart attack! Was he going to retreat into his habitat..or.. Go for the win! HOW SMART IS HE!

[@marshawargo7238]

I think he just wasn't very hungry OR he wanted something different to eat that day "Guy's it's Mussels Monday & Shrimp Sunday, how many times do I have to tell you! Geez..."😅😅😂

[@Dayrador]

It would be interesting: whether one octopus, the other can explain/teach how to open the box? barrier. Octopus A Knows the solution, octopus B has the box to determine how complex his comunication can be. Or the blue tube with a securing pin? step a, step b, step C

[@chansoe101]

Upvoted

[@Dayrador]

Not showing to learn, but analyzing the language/ or colors, whether the octopuses can explain complex solutions. how by "Monster Trucks" Play Music for Oil.

[@kenkaplan3654]

They've done that. One learns from observing the other.

[@marounazou8198]

Now that you know for sure that the octo can watch TV, it's time you create a specially designed remote control to check the octopuses' TV taste...And I guess soggy popcorn is better than no popcorn😆

[@ravenmorrigana1093]

Very impressive that he understood and translated that 2D image into being the actual object next to him. It's a step farther than just watching another octopus do it. How good are they with tools and shapes? Could they be taught to be the round peg in the round hole?

[@angeliner59]

I knew the minute he charged at the box he had figured out on how to open it! Clever octopussy! 👍🏻

[@stxdude830]

You’re teaching them to learn to take over the world and find every human being no matter where they’re at, but I wouldn’t want it any other way 😌

[@V1ctoria00]

Too bad they don't live long enough to teach the next generation. Guess we will see which skills get passed genetically.

[@stxdude830]

@@V1ctoria00 memories last longer than ya think my boy, We are fucked.. nice knowing ya, partner.. it’s a octopus eat octopus World.. and We’re jus passing on through

[@orlaoto5794]

I've thought about this, and we're bloody lucky they don't live long. If they had a long lifespan and were cooperative we would be in big trouble.

[@dancxjo]

Our species is dooomed

[@chaddowns901]

If they had longer lifespans we would really be in some trouble.

[@ChezaraAsura]

I would worry more if octopuses could live on land AND live a long time...

[@chaddowns901]

@@ChezaraAsura we wouldnt have time to worry. We would be dead!!

[@ChezaraAsura]

@@chaddowns901 indeed.....we would have to submit to our octopus overlords quickly @.@

[@nativeafroeurasian]

@Ramsey Boushakra since some call Ociania a continent I was a little confused at first haha

[@trindalas]

Either that or we would have some new friends… after cleaning out our garbage from their homes… I’d love to be friends with octopi, they are really cool creatures.

[@Finduszip12]

Imagine the possibilities! Learing him to do complex tasks like short term memory number tests and learing them to communicate with us!!!! Arrgh! Wish I was in that field!!

[@helgafalckenberg6635]

After he showed us the “hammer” he was able to solve the task! Awesome guys they are! Since very long time a really good test! Thanks for sharing

[@gbii2612]

What i found intriguing is the fact that the octopus instantly went to the right spot with no hesitation as if it had done the task a thousand times before. you can clearly see the difference from the previous attempts, where multiple strategies were used, and after, in one smooth motion.

[@MysteryGuy465]

I loved the crabs reaction to the octopus opening the box at the end! 4:53

[@chunckystar]

My man really came back to his den and watched the video then did it... This is awesome

[@JustDiane71]

Wow! That is awesome! I'm so impressed. Soon as he watched it he flew over to open it! Crazy! These guys are smarter than most people!! 🐙❤

[@AGDinCA]

Whoa... I was not really sure what would happen. But, when I saw that he didn't fully retreat into his cave, I became intrigued. He actually seemed to get hanging out of his cave, watching intently. Cephlapods never cease to amaze me.

[@tal_the_great]

Do they learn faster if they are shown a video of an octopus doing it, or an abstract explanation of how it's done?

[@V1ctoria00]

I fully expected to see a video of an octopus doing a task. Surprising enough that it worked anyway.

[@PheonixArizen]

​@@V1ctoria00 Now they should use this video of the octopus opening the trap to then train another new candidate. see if s/he learns any faster if a person teaches it or a fellow Octopus!

[@notlikely2634]

Wow...l mean ...WOW. He watched he understood and acted upon it. Fantastic

[@rexmann1984]

Moreover he watched the video for HALF an Hour!!! Like most people don't have that attention span.

[@flexwashington638]

Octopus are very intelligent and also have obvious personalities. This octopus is very smart

[@MsBertha38]

Now see if s/he can remember a series of activities to open the box. And how many s/he can remember.

[@davidipman941]

3:58 Think like a tube... oh my Neptune, the tube!

[@dianalovescolors]

Lolol 😆

[@riphopfer5816]

This is the most wonderful thing of any kind that I’ve seen in months!

[@gavmansworkshop5624]

He deadset went "wait hold the fkn phone, that bloody blue pipe!" and went straight over to it.

[@techgirl517]

More experiments like this! This is a good training and entertainment for octopuses. And of course we human like to watch them 😂

[@marymaryquitecontrary]

I wonder if he would bother learning if the item in the box was non-food, but the video ended with a reward shown.

[@treborironwolfe978]

Such precious creatures.. if only some of my coworkers were able to learn from our training videos . *IDEA:* Do octopus have "pets"? Are there smaller ocean critters that they seem to favor and are gentle with? Maybe you could try teaching them what a "pet" is.

[@vikkitaylor5469]

Magnificent creatures. I absolutely adore them!

[@jamespittman520]

I love how he went back to his lair to watch the video close-up in comfort. At the 4:00 mark he seems to mimic the pulling of the pin by elongating his body as if he was the blue pin and simulating the pulling motion. You can see the flash of understadingin his eyes when he realized the answer and he wasted no time zooming over to the box and pullled the pin on the first try.

[@fredrickfleet3933]

...................................................the possibilities this presents is absolutely mind blowing.

[@Clownler]

Yall need to try this again with a different little guy, I love the idea!

[@Southernrefinish88]

Crabs like “oh know jerry he’s figured it out very man for himself lol

[@sandybanjo]

Wonderful experiment.......obviously very revealing......these creatures have incredible intelligence and also even feelings for appreciation and kindness.....like dolphins and whales....and, they seem to bond to humans..........

[@jahcane3711]

YOU DID MY IDEA! HELL YES!! THANK YOU!!

[@bekind1297]

Brilliant and enlightening! This shows he has potential for much more complex tasks..🐙

[@jacobpaint]

After showing it a few of these tutorial videos for similar box opening problems, I wonder if you can then teach it to turn on the tv so that next time it gets a box problem you can see if it is motivated to turn on the tv to see the tutorial.

[@poopyprincesstoiletpaperte270]

It is so wonderful and amazing how incredibly smart octopi are!!🐙❤🐙❤

[@RVOnTheWayside]

They are so wonderful and it is so amazing that we can communicate things through video loops. ❤️👍👏 Donovan & Jodi

[@sweetfoxy84]

when finally the octopus pulls up the tube, perhaps you could hear his cry of joy "yeee I did it! Now I'll open the box and eat the crabs!!"

[@mr.robinson1982]

Very cool as long as they NEVER ESCAPE TO THE OPEN OCEAN...

[@icysteve46]

That was impressive very impressive.

[@debshep8141]

"First let me mimic tube so they know I'm paying attention" 🥰🥰🥰🥰💖💖💖💖

[@trindalas]

I love that it seemed to actually learn from the video. Glad it got its snack! It’s so cool 🥰

[@davewarrender2056]

Hell yeah , big up to octi , just don't piss one off , they probably can remember you!

[@daphneshorts4820]

I love these creatures, and I was not able to watch the video once I realized this is a crab's worst nightmare.

[@corimyers4985]

This should be your opening logo all the time!

[@yarrowwitch]

Fantastic to see such capacity for understanding demonstrated.

[@great-grandmakirk8828]

I truly love these wonderful creatures.🥰 I wish people would stop catching and eating them.😩 This experiment shows how very intelligent these creatures really are and I can’t wait to see what else they can learn by watching video of tasks. Thank you for sharing.❤️👏🏼👍🏻😍

[@WolfgangSlany]

Wow, just wow! This is a game changer if it can be reproduced rigorously!

[@sharg0]

This should open for some fascinating research and further increase our understanding of these fascinating critters!

[@mellocello]

She is beautiful. Thank you.

[@BobT36]

Aww I wanted to see the octopus enjoy his well deserved meal. Awesome that not only did he immediately pull the rod out, he knew it opened by lifting the lid, too. That certainly wasn't a fluke.

[@The123fiona]

The lid automatically lifted. You'd have seen that if you'd watched the video as well as the octopus did 😆😆

[@leonardhinkelmann5629]

Something that would be a great leap would be to teach an octopus an exchange deal. It goes against the instincts of an octopus to give up food, so a way to prove, that it understands the concept would be, to show it a video, that shows how putting a piece of food in box a opens up a box b with more food. Not a fully refined experiment, but i'm sure you get the point.

[@emmabee5027]

Amazing results guys!!! Super excited to see what else this amazing creature will do

[@plumbawl5977]

This video shows one reason why the Octopus is my favorite Water Creature!

[@carlospulpo4205]

That was very impressive! It would be neat to make an experiment with two tubes and pushing one and pulling the other is required to open it. Position the plastic tubing in such a way to create a "lock' that would prevent the hasp holding tube from being withdrawn without first pushing on the first tube or as a real difficult challenge setting it to a specific position using a colored strip as a visual guide.

[@judithwake2757]

Wonderful video ! Thank you ! Would love to see more !

[@Nitephall]

Even after he opened it he was still checking the video to make sure he did it right!

[@cconnon1912]

Fricking amazing!!! Learning from a video just awesome.

[@apedley]

Incredible to watch. you could almost see the moment that the penny dropped. I wanted to see him eat the crab though!

[@owenmerrick2377]

I swear Octie emulated the stiff tube at the 4:02 mark... Very cool experiment!

[@obscuredxbw]

i like how you're testing to see how intelligent they are when it immediately repeatedly hits itself off of random objects. i've seen people do that too.

[@obscuredxbw]

on one hand, repeat this test using another 100-1000 octopi and see how they do. maybe then this video will seem scientific based off the facts it looked more like the octopus was looking for a way to escape rather than eat the crabs, and the footage is cropped to appear to support their theory and not provide proof. on the other, if it's SO intelligent it's probably only going after the crabs while saying to itself, "maybe if i eat these crabs today they'll finally let me go".

[@obscuredxbw]

i'm actually not sure what's worse here... all the gullible people, or your attempt at getting both yours and their money through youtube by essentially falsifying a study.

[@paulborneo7535]

This is the best thing ever. Thanks!

[@kathyshaull3220]

Wow. This is very exciting. I’m always amazed at your videos.

[@xXOFrannieOXx]

Amazing to watch. Beautiful creatures. Plus this opens doors to many different experiments. Cant wait to see what you come up with next.

[@lizjackson6592]

This is not the first time we've seen an octopus go kinda rigid like that. I can recall this motion in the cat video and the hammer, at least. I wonder if that could be how their body sorta freezes up so they could imagine what it feels like to do a motion or something? Sorta like a mirror neuron process when our brains process someone else doing a motion.

[@debdrake6786]

Suggestion - repeat experiment with same octopus, but different puzzle and video. See if octopus looks to video for solution more quickly. Further experiment - show the octopus a video that is similar but not identical to the problem he is given (different size, different shape, etc) - see if he makes the connection that even if it looks different it's the same problem.

[@deborahstrube7833]

Thank you so much for sharing this video. It has opened up the minds and curiosity of my students as we explore the wonders of our planet and all that inhabits it. BRAVO!

[@kliddleable]

This is incredible.

[@Lochias333]

Maybe a video of different colored buttons, showing that one particular button gets them a treat?

[@rexmann1984]

Oh wow!!! That's so amazing 😍.

[@katemaxwell2804]

Absolutely amazing and scary at the same time. I'd watch what videos it watches...it might entertain the idea of taking over!!

[@KontraV]

Wooooow!! I was literally in here yelling at my phone. Lol Amazing!

[@kn3765]

That truly is amazing!

[@mostafaalaiwat7773]

This is so amazing.

[@rixretros]

Hmmm......that octo seems to be smarter and a quicker learner than a lot of dogs i know.

[@dianeclarke3763]

That is amazing!!! Just Wow!! Clever little thing! 🐙🐙🐙💓

[@shrikantghanekar3626]

wow..! just amazing...means they learn by visuals

[@joelgirten400]

Wow that is truly amazing I can't believe that he really watched that video and then opened it.

[@user-rs6ei4xv7v]

Very impressive 🐙🦀🔝

[@PHENOMENALMAMI]

This was Fascinating

[@za.z.6061]

I have followed you channel for a while now and this is the content I have been waiting for since the beginning. Please continue to make more video like this so we can better understand how octopus think and what they are capable of. Maybe one day you will be able to communication with your trained octopus!

[@LeafyGreenDA]

Smarter than me on my best days.

[@flock_ness]

That is incredible.

[@FaceTubeU]

Octopus: I have the power!

[@ackmrk]

Yep! I'm officially terrified.

[@DeniseHedberg66]

That IS amazing!

[@tapassarma7502]

Thus is amazing! I wonder if you could teach him some other things.I have a few ideas.It would be very awesome if you would do that. 1.You could put the crabs in a box and connect its door with a balance in such a way that if you put a certain amount of mass in the balance,the door will open.Then you could put different mass painted in different colors so that the octopus could distinguish the differences. Then show the video to him and I think he would be able to put the mass of correct color in the balance and open the box. 2.You could combine it with a escape room challenge.You could put him in a cage and add a paddle in its door such that if he keeps turning the paddle for some time,the door will open.Then show him the video.This would be a great escape room challenge. I really wish you guys would do these things.If I get any other ideas,I will surely let you know.

[@alexandterfst6532]

Incredible!!!!

[@EPSTomcat11]

This is amazing.. well done! Have you tried a proper mirror test? It’s tricky because you would need to put a mark on the octopus where it normally cannot see it. Like right on top of it’s head. If it uses the mirror to touch the mark, then it’s self aware.

[@shirleyphilbrick1135]

Amazing, Im amazed at how quick he learned thta!

[@brains8305]

Bet the crabs were real pissed off when the video played

[@cakedesigner]

Wow 😲 that’s really awesome!