beat the chimp...

No, no.. this is not a post about what people get up to in their 'me time' so.. read on.

Having just returned home from a lecture about animal behaviour I have looked into a subject which was addressed. In a recent study of memory in primates it has been found that humans have not got the totally superior minds that it was thought we have... In my eyes just reinforcing the meaning behind the phrase 'he would forget his nuts if they weren't in a sack' which I all-to-often hear.

The study, reported ----> here, showed that when a group of juvenile chimps were tested against their senior counterparts, and also a bunch of university undergrads, in a counting and memory exercise they reigned superior. Obvoiusly the chimps (and undergraduates) were taught the the ability of recognising ascending numbers beforehand. I for one have had a gander at a video available for this study and I got completely crushed by the 5 year old... I take my hat off to him. But lucky for me I tried this alone and thus, dignity was maintained.

It seems this attribute is thought to be lost due to the aquisition, by humans, of language. which is probably right.. But maybe, knowing that new born animals 'imprint' the image of the first large, moving thing they see as a 'parent', could it be that this ability, shown solely in juveniles, is an extension of this branch of memorising stuff? Not as an imprint but its practically a photographic memory; an ability lost with age...

Just out of interest, the adult chimps did about as well as the humans. so at least we can take solace from that.

For info on other animal memory tests, learning and insight see this site.