Intelligence
Consciousness
Many people often wonder: how much
are chimps actually like us? One of the things that make humans
unique is that we can recognize ourselves. Anyone who has watched a
dog notice his reflection in a mirror can see that the dog is
reacting to the image as if he was interacting with another dog,
trying to play with the ‘new’ dog or scare off the ‘intruder’ by
barking. This is called a social response, as if the animal was
socializing with another animal like himself. For an animal, it is
easy to assume that if they see an image it represents another
individual because at first glance this is what it appears to be.
They have a natural urge to categorize others as friends or foe,
ultimately determining if they are in danger or not. Apes have a
more complex reaction to their reflection. Initially they too,
react as if they are seeing another individual, but then they notice
that they are in control of the image they see. Chimpanzees do
something scientists call contingency testing – they make movements
while watching themselves in the mirror. It seems to be the way
they figure out that it is themselves in the mirror and not other
chimpanzees. They then explore parts of their body that they
wouldn’t normally be able to see without the aid of a mirror. They
use the mirror to more carefully groom their backs, necks and face.
Often they carefully clean their eyes and teeth, locations they
would not be able to see needed attention without the use of a
mirror. This behavior parallels the behaviors that humans can be
seen doing in mirrors and emphasizes the remarkable similarity
between the simple behaviors of humans and chimpanzees.
Decision making
Most animals do not seem to make
conscious decisions. Instead, they react by instinct, an inborn
pattern of behavior that is triggered by a strong natural impulse. The average animal doesn’t waste time considering how he or she
should react to a situation because taking those extra seconds could
mean the difference between life and death. The gazelle that pauses
to wonder whether or not he should run from a lion will be the one
most likely to be caught and eaten. Any animal, including gazelles,
spend most of their time foraging but always have to be on the watch
for predators.
The gazelle that will have the greatest chance at
living the longest would be one that could detect and run from
predators the quickest; complex decision making is not required and
would even hinder this split second action. Chimpanzees are not
like flighty gazelles. They seem to wait, observe their situation
and surroundings, weigh the costs and benefits to their behavior,
and then act based on what they have seen and considered. In
waiting and gathering information about their surroundings a chimp
may be able to make a more informed decision about where to find
food and how to access it.
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Problem solving
Problem solving is a skill that is
dependent on having a complex brain that can accommodate the
absorption and synthesis of many different stimuli. As you learned
earlier, a chimpanzee is known to observe and make decisions based
on the situation. This leads us to believe that a chimp can be a
good problem solver. The act of solving problems opens a lot of new
possible rewards for the animals that are capable of it. In one
instance, a chimpanzee in a laboratory setting was presented with a
banana that was just out of reach. The chimp had two sticks
available to it that were separately each too short to reach the
banana, but that could be interlocked and used as a whole, longer
stick to knock down the food. The chimpanzee used what is called
insight, knowing how an object can be applied to the task at hand
without any former practice, and also demonstrated tool use. Other
animals could not comprehend the concept of using a stick to reach a
banana because of the indirect thought that has to be applied in
using the tool. A lemur would never use a stick to get food that
was out of his or her reach because they make direct connections
between seeing and eating their food. If they can’t reach it they
won’t use tools (because they only manipulate objects when they try
to eat them), and they may just give up.
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Communication
There is no doubt that animals can
communicate. They just don’t go about it in exactly the same way as
humans. Chimpanzees, as well as other animals, communicate vocally
but non-verbally; that is they make noises that indicate their
general mood, but they don’t use words to communicate exactly how
they feel. For a chimpanzee, words are often unnecessary because
they can make their intentions clear without using words. For
instance, to get help from a group member, a chimpanzee with a thorn
in her skin merely has to present the troublesome area to another
chimp.
The second chimp obligingly grooms the first to try to alleviate any
problems he or she may find.
more on communication
Evolution of
Intelligence
If we take a look
at the evolutionary history of primates, it can be seen that as
monkeys and apes get more closely related to humans there is a trend
towards having more complex cognition, or thought processes. A lemur
is the simplest kind of primate and is most distantly related to
humans. Lemurs will investigate objects with their mouth and hands,
and do so only as they would if they were foraging. They explore
their world with the same pattern of behavior they use to look for
food. Every animal forages for food, so the lemur’s behavior
is not much different from non-primates’ behaviors.
After lemurs, on the evolutionary tree, come monkeys. They
readily manipulate objects, but don’t pay attention to the effects
they produce. For instance a snow monkey will thoroughly
investigate an object, turning it over and pulling it apart much
more than a lemur would, but if they shake something that
rattles, the monkey will not try to repeat the action to make the
noise again. The monkey is only concerned at finding the food
available to him or her, not in the interesting effects he or she
produces when manipulating objects. Great apes come next on the
evolutionary tree. They are the closest evolutionary relatives to
humans. All four species of great apes: orangutan, gorilla,
bonobo and chimpanzee, manipulate and investigate objects that
aren’t related to foraging. This already shows a distinction between
apes and primates that are less closely related to humans. Nest
building requires the manipulation of materials that isn’t driven by
the need to get food. It has been found that chimpanzees do the same
behaviors, just like young human child would: exploring surroundings
and repeating interesting effects, like unexpected results or
strange noises, made through the manipulation of objects.
Decision
making, problem solving, and a consciousness of one’s own self are
three characteristics that set chimpanzees apart from most other
primates. Monkeys would never feel compelled to explore the
possibilities of using an object such as a tool or recognize that
their own reflection is not a threat against them. Most often, when
a predator approaches a troop of monkeys they flee at the first sign
of danger; this is very similar to the strategy of the cautious
gazelle. These traits, intrinsic to the chimpanzee, simultaneously
define how they differ from other primates and draw the connections
that link us humans to our closest genetic relative, the chimpanzee.
We can see our own behaviors in the way they groom themselves in a
mirror or develop clever solutions to the problems that challenge
them.
Message from CAC'ers
We saw a non-vocal request
for grooming happen in one of the chimp communities we
visited. The female could not get comfortable and kept
‘asking’ other chimps to see if they could help her. She
was very persistent and definitely determined to get the
thorn removed!
The similarities in
intelligence that are recognized as something we and
chimpanzees both share should not be overlooked when
considering what actions to take when it concerns their
welfare and the forests they live in.
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