Are You Smarter than a 5 Year-Old Chimp?
Are you smarter than a 5-year-old chimpanzee? Before you answer, you will probably want to read more about what Japanese researchers found when chimpanzees were pitted against human adults in a short-term memory test.
Researcher Tetsuro Matsuzawa specializes in the mental abilities of chimps but even he was surprised when a 5-year chimp outscored human adults in a simple, short-memory test.
The chimp’s name is Ayumu. He was selected for the research because he had done well in a preliminary test against humans.
Here was the test: Five numbers were flashed on a computer screen for seven-tenths of a second. Then they were replaced by white squares. The chimp and the humans were asked to touch the squares in the correct sequence. Both the chimp and the humans were able to complete the task about 80 percent of the time.
But, when the time was reduced from seven-tenths of a second to four-tenths or two-tenths, the chimp was champ. The humans dropped off to 40 percent but Ayumu maintained an 80 percent correct rate.
Why was the chimp able to beat the humans? Mr. Matsuzawa thinks that the chimp’s age gave him an advantage. He believes that a human’s mind gives up short term memory to make room for learning language abilities. If Ayumu had been pitted against 5-year old children, Mr. Matsuzawa believes the children would have come out on top.
Source: Associated Press
BLOG QUESTION
Why are researchers like Mr. Matsuzawa interested in learning about the mental abilities of apes?
Researcher Tetsuro Matsuzawa specializes in the mental abilities of chimps but even he was surprised when a 5-year chimp outscored human adults in a simple, short-memory test.
The chimp’s name is Ayumu. He was selected for the research because he had done well in a preliminary test against humans.
Here was the test: Five numbers were flashed on a computer screen for seven-tenths of a second. Then they were replaced by white squares. The chimp and the humans were asked to touch the squares in the correct sequence. Both the chimp and the humans were able to complete the task about 80 percent of the time.
But, when the time was reduced from seven-tenths of a second to four-tenths or two-tenths, the chimp was champ. The humans dropped off to 40 percent but Ayumu maintained an 80 percent correct rate.
Why was the chimp able to beat the humans? Mr. Matsuzawa thinks that the chimp’s age gave him an advantage. He believes that a human’s mind gives up short term memory to make room for learning language abilities. If Ayumu had been pitted against 5-year old children, Mr. Matsuzawa believes the children would have come out on top.
Source: Associated Press
BLOG QUESTION
Why are researchers like Mr. Matsuzawa interested in learning about the mental abilities of apes?
4 Comments:
They're probably interested because many humans think they're the best species on the planet, and they're trying to prove us wrong.
Researchers are interested in learning about the mental abilities of chimps because chimps are always compared as being almost as smart as humans (around scientists.) If you ask most people, "Aside from people, what is the smartest animal?" The majority of people would probably list dogs, cats, etc., and never dream of the "silly monkeys" as being considered smart. Monkeys are proven to be the 2nd smartest animals on Earth, and THAT is why scientists enjoy studying their mentality.
Because Monkeys and Chimps are second smartest and the closest animal to human.
Scientists should find their D. N. A. to see if chimps are smarter than humans. Maybe chimpanzee's were born to be smarter. Who knows.
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