6: Social cues

In this film, the cognitive abilities of chimpanzees are compared with those of dogs. Specifically, the ability to read communicative signals in chimps and dogs is tested and compared.

In this experiment, a food treat is hidden under one of two cups. A screen prevents the animals from seeing under which cup the food treat will be hidden, but the experimenter then indicates which cup the food is hidden under by placing an object on top of the treat-containing cup. This is called the 'object choice task'.

How well will the chimpanzees and dogs read the communicative signal behaviours of the experimenter? Will the chimpanzees outscore the dogs at this test? Watch the film to find out.

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Brian Hare, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.