Susan Savage-Rumbaugh: Apes that write, start fires and play Pac-Man
Savage-Rumbaugh asks whether uniquely human traits, and other animals' behaviors, are hardwired by species. Then she rolls a video that makes you think: maybe not. The bonobo apes she works with understand spoken English. One follows her instructions to take a cigarette lighter from her pocket and use it to start a fire. Bonobos are shown making tools, drawing symbols to communicate, and playing Pac-Man -- all tasks learned just by watching. Maybe it's not always biology that causes a species to act as it does, she suggests. Maybe it's cultural exposure to how things are done.
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Savage-Rumbaugh language developmental_psychology
Comments (1)
On 29 April 2008 Mark wrote:
Here is a good Kanzi video
http://www.psychclips.co.uk/clip19.html
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