Scientists from Kyoto and
Oxford Universities in collaboration with the Indianapolis Zoo have published a new study showcasing
chimpanzees who have spontaneously learned new behaviors in order to solve a numerical puzzle.
This is a new study published in Scientific Reports, that shows chimpanzees spontaneously “taking turns” in order to solve a numerical problem. Even though there have been previous studies publishing showing chimps “taking turn” behaviors in strict settings, this is the first study to demonstrate that in order to solve complex permutations, chimpanzees adapt this behavior without any external cues. This study provides us with important insights on the evolution of such behaviors, which underlay other important interactions such as communication and language. In order to do this study, researchers took a group of chimpanzees, three mother and offspring pairs, who were already experts at touching a series of numbers in the right order. However, they have never had a shared version of the tasks. The exercise was split between two screens where the chimps needed to pick the numbers in the correct order to successful complete the task and be rewarded. All six chimpanzees achieved high level of accuracy during the study. The three younger chimpanzees made few mistakes and learned quicker than their mothers, but in order to achieve that, the younger chimpanzees took cues from their mothers when learning how to take turns. Scientists hope that this study will help pave the way into learning more about the evolution of cognitive perspectives for chimpanzees.
Chimpanzees spontaneously take turns in a shared serial ordering task (November 2017)
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