In Keo’s match-the-sample sessions, he presses a button on the middle of the screen to begin. A photograph of a chimpanzee face is projected to a random location on the screen. It disappears, and two chimpanzee faces, again projected randomly, follow. One is identical to the previous image; the other isn’t. If Keo selects the unidentical image, a noise sounds, and the screen goes momentarily red to indicate a wrong answer. If he selects the identical image, a different noise indicates a correct answer, and he receives a treat. In a cognitive session Keo is exposed to thirty sets of faces. Ten minutes are set aside for the process, but he typically finishes in less than half that time.

In Vicky and Rollie’s sequencing sessions, the structure is the same, although the basic task is different. The screen presents two boxes; one contains the number one, the other the number two. If Vicky or Rollie selects the box containing two first, the computer signals an incorrect answer. If, however, they select one and then two, the computer indicates a correct answer, and they’re rewarded.

Even if the latter occurs, it can’t truly be considered counting. While people recognize that the symbols within the boxes are numbers, the apes probably do not. As Ross says, “Do we think they’re counting Arabic numerals? Absolutely not. The characters could just as well be Chinese. But they are learning to sequence things.” The successful sequencing of objects would demonstrate that the apes have learned that the symbol in one box always goes before the symbol in the other.

This would be a significant achievement for these individuals, as it would indicate that the apes have begun to recognize correct and incorrect options in the choices presented on the touch-screen. Researchers would increase the difficulty at this point, adding a third number for the sequencing exercise or increasing the time between images in match-the-sample. “We want to keep developing it until we’re confident that they’re using the touch-screen as a tool to make choices,” says Ross.

According to Ross, mastery would mean consistent scores of 85 percent and above. Keo and Vicky are still in the 40-60 percent range for correct answers, while Rollie has recently mastered the sequencing of two numbers and has had a third number added to her exercises.

Further progress has been achieved elsewhere. A key figure in touch-screen research, Dr. Tetsuro Matsuzawa of the Primate Research Institute at Kyoto University in Japan, works with a chimpanzee, Ai, who has learned to sequence numbers from one to nine forwards, backwards and even by memory in instances where the numbers are flashed onto the screen and then obscured. Matsuzawa has the research advantage of working in a pure laboratory setting, where the chimpanzees can access, again voluntarily, the computers for up to six hours a day. Even then, his results have taken twenty years to achieve. At Lincoln Park Zoo, where the focus is promoting education and conservation, the touch-screen research accounts for only ten minutes of the apes’ busy day. Ross stresses that the animals have made amazing progress in one year, but it’s a long-term process.

While gains may come slowly, the potential of the chimpanzees and gorillas using the touch-screen to indicate how they perceive their surroundings is what excites Ross the most. “There have to be differences between how they see the world and how humans see the world. I want to know how they see the world so we can have the opportunity to tune it to their preferences.”

The potential for communication between apes and keepers may evoke comparisons to the widely-known, and controversial, efforts to teach sign language to apes, made famous by the gorilla, Koko, and Washoe, a chimpanzee. Ross is quick to resist such comparisons, however, stating,“Language is simply one form of communication. This research focuses on broader issues of environment, perception and communication. By understanding the apes’ preferences and giving them means to express these preferences, we can use the results not only academically, but for practical purposes as well. Imagine giving the apes the ability to tell us what types of enrichment they prefer—instead of guessing or basing our choices on short observations, we would be giving that control back to the apes.” It’s this potential for greater understanding of ape perception that makes the future of the research so exciting.

In the present, Ross suggests that the cognitive-research sessions have value beyond their eventual academic goals. For the primate participants, he says, “This is engaging, it’s challenging to them. These activities are a perfect meld of enrichment and theoretical academic research.” Ultimately, while he has high hopes for the future—ten, twenty years down the line—he also recognizes the value in the present of enabling apes to further exercise their minds, and perhaps gain a few primate treats in the process.

Next: Gorillas in the Booth

pages >> 1 | 2 | 3 |