Completed Projects |
Great apes—chimps, bonobos, orangutans, and gorillas—have some of the biggest brains in proportion to body size of any animals, and their capacity for culture is unsurpassed by other species—except our own. Ape Genius investigates what new studies reveal about the mental talents of our nearest relatives. How good are they at learning by watching, a cornerstone of culture? What are the cognitive prerequisites for cooperation, and how do they interact with temperamental factors such as impulsivity and aggression? How well can an ape assess what’s on another ape’s mind? The evolving science of ape intelligence explains why apes stand head and shoulders over their monkey kin, and in turn why we humans are in a cognitive league of our own.