Chimpanzee Memory Study Suggests Apes' Short-Term Recall Better Than Humans'

[Ansciess]

Boston — Chimpanzees may have more smarts than humans, at least regarding short-term memories, new research suggests.

A Japanese researcher presented a video showing the remarkable abilities of a chimpanzee named Ayumu, here at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Thursday (Feb. 14). When the numbers 1 through 9 appeared randomly on a screen and then disappeared, the chimpanzee was able to recall the exact sequence and location of each number. Ayumu has also learnt numbers 1 through 19 and is able to touch each one in ascending order, which hasn't been shown before, Tetsuro Matsuzawa, a researcher at Kyoto University's Primate Research Institute, told Livescience.

As Matsuzawa showed the video to a room of scientists and journalists, murmurs of amazement were heard. "Don't worry, nobody can do it," Matsuzawa said, with an almost mischievous smile. "It's impossible for you."

A select few humans have such abilities, but these are typically people with savant syndrome, which is accompanied by severe mental disabilities; it's simply beyond the powers of an ordinary human, Matsuzawa said. On the other hand, six out of six chimpanzees tested could rapidly remember the location and order of nine digits, he said. [8 Amazing Non-Human Primate Abilities]

This incredible short-term (or "working") memory helps chimpanzees survive in the wild, where they often must make rapid and complex decisions. Working memory is an active form of short-term memory, a mental workspace that allows the brain to juggle multiple thoughts simultaneously...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/17/chimpanzee-memory-study-short-term_n_2703588.html

 

[Pickle Juice]

This is wonderful to know, but I am sick to death of people refusing to accept what should make complete intuitive sense without enslaving animals and subjecting them to such testing. As valuable as such knowledge may be, no one would stand for subjecting humans to such things unless it were on a voluntary basis.

 

[Ansciess]

I agree. That's the problem with even those animal studies that might end up helping animals - usually the animals had to be held captive so that humans could "prove" their abilities.

(BTW, I wasn't paying attention and made a mistake - this should be in animals in the news. Can it be moved?)

 

[Pickle Juice]

Yes, I'll do it.

 

[mlp]

Interesting, and not surprising.