A recent study has revealed that chimpanzees possess a level of flexible reasoning similar to that of four-year-old children, suggesting they may share more cognitive traits with humans than previously thought. Conducted by a team from the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Utrecht, the research indicates that chimpanzees can alter their opinions when presented with new information.
The study took place at the chimpanzee sanctuary on Ngamba Island in Uganda. Researchers presented the chimpanzees with two boxes, one of which contained food. Initially, the animals received a cue that hinted at which box held the reward. Subsequently, the researchers provided stronger evidence pointing to the other box, observing that most of the chimpanzees changed their choices in response to the new information.
This kind of “flexible” reasoning is typically associated with young children, highlighting that chimpanzees are capable of similar cognitive processes. As noted in a summary from the University of Berkeley, the researchers employed rigorously controlled experiments and computational models to ensure that their findings reflected genuine reasoning rather than instinctive responses.
The analyses ruled out simpler explanations for the chimpanzees” behavior, such as a preference for the most recent cue or reacting to the most obvious signal. The models confirmed that the decision-making processes of the chimpanzees aligned with rational strategies for revising beliefs.
The study challenges the traditional perspective that rationality, defined as the ability to form and revise beliefs based on evidence, is unique to humans. Moving forward, the researchers aim to expand their investigations to other primate species, with the goal of creating a comparative map of reasoning abilities across evolutionary branches.
