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More handpicked essays just for you.
Evidence for genetic and environmental contributions to individual intelligence
Evidence for genetic and environmental contributions to individual intelligence
Evidence for genetic and environmental contributions to individual intelligence
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To begin, "The Gentle Genius of Bonobos" is a lecture given by Susan Savage-Rumbaugh, which describes the human-like behavior Bonobos seem to exhibit. Bonobos live around the Congo in Africa, and unfortunately do not appear much in zoos due to their intense human-like sexual behavior. This behavior however is a profound one in the ape culture, because Bonobos use it in multiple areas in their lives, such as communication and conflict resolution. Another similarity between humans and Bonobos is their body structure. Both species seem to stand "upright," which allows for better movement, such as walking bipedal. Susan Savage-Rumbaugh introduces Kanzi, a Bonobo whom she studied and interacted with. The video within this lecture illustrates Kanzi …show more content…
Unlike the majority of scientist studying evolution and behaviors, Savage-Rumbaugh believes that behavior is developed through social interaction or cultural influences rather than biological factors. In order to test and validate her hypothesis, she based her experiment on Bonobos, because they are the most biologically similar specie to humans. Over the course of a couple decades, Savage-Rumbaugh studies the Bonobos' abilities to learn behaviors by just observing rather than training. After studying the results of solely social interaction, Savage-Rumbaugh discovered that Bonobos have the basic neural functions, which allow them to create a form of communication that resembles our communication in a symbolic form. From that, Susan discovered her findings did support her hypothesis, regardless of its popularity. Even though she provided evidence that illustrated how cultural influences does contribute to how Bonobos learn, I believe more research needs to be conducted in order to fully state that there is a direct correlation between the ability to learn and/or behave and cultural influences rather than biological
Chapter one of “The Bonobo And The Atheist” was rather interesting. De Waal focusing primarily on chimps studied morality. Now what is morality? Morality in short is having an understanding of right and wrong. Human beings have an understanding of right and wrong due to our beliefs and our teachings growing up. De Waal explains animals and humans do not share these common beliefs and he focuses his area of study on perhaps why they show signs of morality much like humans do. Humans are usually shaped around their specific religion, they have an understanding of god and the commandments so on and so forth. This is the case for me because I grew up in a very traditional roman catholic family. From a very young age I was forced to go to church
No matter who you are, you are afraid of something. On the other hand, you also have things that you love and are even awestruck by its presence. Goodall describes her encounter with the bushbuck as an amazing sight while her encounter with the leopard was full of fear.
Human are the most clever animals in the world. As the society developed, they are more concerned to seek for a harmony relationship with nature. The article “In the Forests of the Gombe” written by Jane Goodall describes the relationship of science and religious and the new understanding of humans through the forest. After Goodall’s husband died, she went through the Gombe jungle and found the new world by observing chimpanzees and staying in the quiet forest. Even though there are no communication between Goodall and chimpanzees in the forest, she still gets inner peace and enlightenment of science and religious.
There are contrasts in tool kits used by different groups of chimpanzees, which seem to be a result of the environment in which they live as well as information that is shared by the group. For example, in 1973 it was reported that chimpanzees in Gombe did not use hammer stones, but those of Cape Palmas did. We will explore the tool use of Chimpanzees from the wild, including Gombe, Tai National Forest, and the Congo Basin---and contrast those with Chimpanzees in captivity in locations of Zoo’s both in the United States and abroad.
While there are noticeable by differences in social conduct between these two primates, I argue that they are extra of similar behaviors than most books have suggested. This book portrays several reasons that modern views of bonobo and chimpanzee cultures may not harmonize well with ground data. Bonobos are derived since their behavior has been defined lately than that of chimpanzees, and the likelihood that explanations of bonobo-chimpanzee differences are echoes of human male-female alterations.
Primates, any placental mammal of the order Primates, normally having flexible hands and feet and, in the higher apes, a highly developed brain (“Primate”, 2016), have been one of the most popular animals and prominent attractions in zoos.
In primates such as chimpanzees it is imperative to look at their culture to understand their intelligence. Culture in this circumstance means a specific set of behaviors obtained through learning in a population/species. Chimpanzee’s intelligence is quite unique how they interact with their environment and use it to their benefit just like humans. They have the ability to overcome the obstacles of everyday life through learning and the ability to use tools to create a better quality of life. The complexity of their intellect is different from any other animal ever seen. A significant part of chimpanzee intelligence that sets them apart from other primates and puts them closer to humans is the way they exhibit social learning within their culture and interactions within their environment.
Quiatt, D., & Reynolds, V. (1993). Primate behaviour: information, social knowledge, and the evolution of culture. Cambridge [England: Cambridge University Press].
William Apess broke the mold by writing this autobiography titled A Son of the Forest in 1829, considering it was not a common literary form for his time. Apess also set the bar as the earliest autobiography written and published by a Native American. Throughout the piece we learn his highs and lows, the prejudices he encountered, his different jobs, and his ordainment as a minister.
It has been believed that culture is unique to humans and no other groups of animals have culture, but recent evidence refutes this ideology. Before getting into the meat of the argument, it is important to first address the issues regarding the ambiguity of the term, “culture.” What is culture? Many scientists may argue that culture is the way of life for a group of individuals, this definition includes the values, beliefs and traditions of the group (Sapolsky, 2006). Other scientists may argue that culture is the transmission of habits and information by social means (Sapolsky, 2006). Despite the different specifics of what culture is, almost all scientists would agree that culture is transmitted socially through social learning that promotes the transfer of information between members in a group (Boesch and Tomasello, 1998). Based on these notions of culture, it can be justifiably stated that primates have culture. Primates exhibit food preparation techniques, use of tools, communication skills, and most importantly, behaviors of social learning. An exemplar of primates’ capabilities for culture is Koko, the lowland gorilla. Koko, in captivity, was able to learn American sign language, demonstrate self-awareness and the ability to deceive.
Bonobos and gorillas are often found socializing in groups but orangutans are more solitary primates usually keeping to just the children they have (Absolutely Apes). Most scientists believe that bonobos are the most intelligent of the primates(Absolutely Apes). They share many of the behaviors us humans do day to day, like teaching...
Monkey see, monkey do. Apes have always been thought to have an increased level of intelligence. Over the years, researchers have attempted to understand the degree of intelligence these primates possess. However, it is essential to understand the definition of intelligence in order to determine the amount of intelligence primates have. Intelligence is the capability of obtaining knowledge and being able to utilize it in everyday situations. There are many hypotheses that focus on the evolution of intelligence in primates that view a number of factors including brain size and modernism. Primate intelligence has been a topic of interest to many because it will allow us to further understand the close relationship between humans and primates. Additionally, we will be able to understand the difference between human and primate cognition. Some studies suggest that the human and primate brains possess many similarities. This demonstrates why primates tend to respond to stimuli in a manner that is closely related to humans. Researchers have conducted a number of studies in an effort to understand primate cognition.
This article, titled Common Ground, written by Barbara Smuts, points out the main differences between humans and apes, such as our upright stance, large brains, and capacity for spoken language and abstract reasoning. However, the main point of this article is to emphasize the many similarities that apes share with us. Smuts goes into great detail about how human social and emotional tendencies are very reflective in the family of apes.
Chimpanzees are a lot like humans in their behaviours. They are extremely smart since they are able to make and use tools and weapons. The female mothers are very affectionate and protective over the young and the rest of their family. The young chimps are also very dependant on their mother for necessities such as food, shelter and warmth.
Chimpanzees are part of the non-human primate group. Though we share a common ancestor, evolution has pushed us in different directions. However this common ancestor causes humans to be curious about these creatures. As discussed in Jane Goodall’s video Among the Wild Chimpanzees we were once considered to be human because of our use of tools but once we observed these non-human primates using tools, this perception was changed forever. The question now at hand is if having the chimpanzees that we study in captivity makes a difference between studying wild chimps. These interesting creatures can be found naturally in the rainforests of Africa.