In the past, humans were unaware that apes are smart and that they can feel emotions; people just assumed that apes merely animals. Now, people know that apes are much more intelligent than originally thought, that apes share many human behaviours, that apes can feel emotions, and that apes are even able to communicate with humans. This is shown through many trials and experiments with multiple different apes. I chose to write about this topic because it is important for people to view and treat apes as more than just animals. Another factor in my decision was my interest in a specific ape named Koko, who learned sign language. Despite a significant amount of evidence, it has been a struggle for scientists to convince people that apes are intelligent and can feel emotion; there even are still a few in the scientific community who are not convinced. Much of the opposition of ape intelligence and communication stems from the idea that some researchers could be subconsciously projecting their own meanings onto their subjects. One instance in which this was proved to be the …show more content…
A study involving a chimpanzee named Ayumu was used as evidence in the article “Are Apes Definitely Smarter Than Humans” written by Doctor Frans de Waal, a primatologist and ecologist who is currently a professor of Primate Behavior in the Emory University psychology department. De Waal says that Ayumu was able to recall a set of numbers in order, one through nine, perfectly almost every time on a computer screen after seeing them for less than a second. He also writes about a follow-up study that showed that humans, on average, were only able to recall up to five numbers with the same accuracy as Ayumu. This study is extremely interesting to me because it completely upset the scientific community. It was believed that humans should be superior in all cognitive and intellectual tests. Ayumu’s memory completely proved them
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 make tools and use them to procure foods and for social exhibitions; they have refined hunting tactics requiring collaboration, influence and rank; they are status cognizant, calculating and capable of trickery; they can learn to use symbols and understand facets of human language including some interpersonal composition, concepts of number and numerical sequence and they are proficient in spontaneous preparation for a future state or event.
Every few years, Hollywood releases a new Planet of the Ape movie, which is always a blockbuster hit. Moviegoers flock to see these movies of how apes rise together and how they are actually more intelligent than meets the eye. Most people do not know the premise behind these movies of how smart and closely related apes are to humans. This is because people probably have never taken a physical anthropology class and have not done research on apes –our closet kins. Known for his immense studies in the fields of apes and monkeys, his long term research in the behavior of chimpanzees and mountain gorillas, and his experience in the forests with the apes, the co-director of the Jane Goodall Research Center and writer of our textbook, primatologist
In this example, two primates were placed behind either a transparent or an opaque screen. Between these screens was a banana and I learned how a primate reacted when approached with the option if he should go for the banana when put against a dominant primate. I was impressed that they didn’t engage in a brawl over the banana, but instead used thought in regard to hierarchy. This to me, without doubt, proves once more that primates are able to produce complex behaviors that relate to humans. Thinking like this insinuates that primates as well as creatures other than humans have the ability of using
All primates have the same sensation and are capable of receiving excessive amounts of information. All senses, sight, smell, taste, hearing, and touch are essential to the development, survival, and overall well-being of living primates. It is fascinating how non-human primates, without language, can communicate in the same ways as human primates, with language. Non-human primates and human primates are highly developed mammals that possess many of the same communicative characteristics, but still differ greatly. Non-human primates fit into the category of not having language, but being able to communicate.
The first issue that needs to be addressed however is what exactly is memory? “ Without memory we would be servants of the moment, with nothing but our innate reflexes to help us deal with the world. There would be no language, no art, no science, no culture. Civilization itself is the distillation of human memory” (Blakemore 1988). The simple interpretation of Blakemore’s theory on what memory is that a person’s memory is at least one of the most important things in their life and without it civilization itself could not exist.
Darwin's theory of Evolution have been known by the world for many centuries. Even so, not all scientists supp...
“Tool use is rare in animals, and the chimpanzees stand out as the most proficient tool users besides humans” (Boesh, Boesch-Achermann18). Some debate has taken place between researchers regarding how these chimpanzees learn to use these tools and whether or not there is a difference between wild chimps and captive chimp’s tool use. Some theories say that chimps do not actively teach or are taught, but rather learn by observation, trial, and error; as stated in the article Thinking Like a Chimpanzee by Jon Cohen. This article also suggests that some reaserchers do believe that chimps do poses the capability to be taught and understand what they are learning.
Chimpanzees portray their emotions through a number of facial expressions and mannerisms. Just like humans, they undergo mood swings, jealous rages, and laughter. For instance, Goodall observed during her research that a male gorilla “would threaten [me] with an upward and backward movement jerk of his head…” Some of their emotions are easy to read, while at other times we have to look at multiple places on their faces to understand their feelings. A chimpanzee also uses its facial expressions and sounds to communicate with each other, such as hoots and yells.
...pporting details. At the conclusion of the article, the authors share their thoughts on how it might be virtually impossible to determine when a memory is true or false. I also like their willingness to continue the investigations despite how difficult it might be to obtain concrete answers.
Apes have over and over again surpassed other primates in comprehension tests carried out in the laboratory. They are capable of reacting to stimuli in an appropriate manner. Researchers have measured intelligence in primates in a number of situations in an effort to determine the level of cognition these primates possess. Russon and Begun, researchers who have explored ape intelligence state, “In the physical domain, great apes do use tools in ways that require their grade of cognition but they devise equally complex manual techniques and solve equally complex spatial problems” (Russon and Begun 2004). Apes have the abilit...
Project Nim is a documentary that focuses on attempts to teach Nim the chimpanzee language, specifically sign language. It follows the different environments Nim lived in—some conducive to the project’s goal, and others not. The film focuses on the relationship between Nim and his ‘teachers’ and caretakers, especially his interactions with them as he matured and started expressing more aggressive, chimp-like behavior, despite being raised similar to a human child in many aspects.
It is nearly impossible to say whether non-human animals are intelligent. Most studies, in this field of psychology, were carried out on primates, and it is thought that these animals are naturally superior. It seems most behaviour in the research discussed in this essay can be explained through association learning, therefore not actually a result of intelligence. It is difficult to falsify whether animals are intelligent or not because, although they are able to solve problems they only show some aspects to suggest ToM.
Healy, she speaks about two investigations with chimpanzees who are taught to learn phonemic languages but were fairly unsuccessful. The tests were done by Gardners and Premack. After many tests, these scientists found “a chimpanzee would find it easier to associate ideas or meanings with visual and manual sensations than with auditory and vocal sensations,” (Healy, 167). Although some chimps have been taught English, they often don’t speak it. Most chimpanzees, if taught any English, only speak a few words.
In psychology, animals have repeatedly been used through the history of brain research to gain insights into the functioning of the human brain as it controls the functioning of the human body. Processes such as movement, memory, communication, emotion, and perception and all linked to the human brain (De Castro & Olsson, 2015). It is for these reasons that scientists and researchers engaged in animal studies to gain knowledge and information that could be used to understand human behaviour and performance and potentially treat psychological and neurological disorders. This paper discusses the historical and contentious debates around animal brain research in psychology. It further critically analyses the limitations and inadequacies of early