One way to measure animal intelligence is to watch whether animals solve the same problem faster with practice. When hamsters and mice run a cardboard maze ten times, both species get faster after every attempt, showing they learn and remember the paths. The mice complete the maze faster than the hamsters overall, revealing differences in problem-solving speed between species.

How well an animal solves new problems can be measured by timing the tasks directly. You set up three timed challenges for six German Shepherds — three males and three females. In the first, a biscuit goes under a box while the dog watches. In the second, a towel covers the dog's face. In the third, a biscuit hides beneath a towel. You time how long each dog takes and assign points based on speed, so faster dogs score higher. In this experiment, the female dogs completed all three tasks in less time than the males and earned higher total scores.

Outside factors can change how quickly an animal learns new things. You split six hamsters into two groups: one listens to Mozart for 12 weeks, while the other hears no music at all. After the listening period, each hamster runs a cardboard maze to find a sunflower seed, timed once a day for 10 days. The Mozart group hears music for the first five days; during the last five, the music stops. As a result, the Mozart hamsters finish the maze faster than the silent group on every day of testing.