Young chimpanzees have an extraordinary memory that is far better than that of adult humans, a Japanese study said Tuesday.
"The capacity of the brain is limited. Perhaps humans gave up older skills in order to acquire new skills, such as languages," Matsuzawa told Japanese media.
"Maybe the same is true as youngsters become adults," he said, noting that chimps' memory capability declined with age.
The young chimps are considered to have "eidetic imagery," or the capability to retain an accurate, detailed image of a complex scene or pattern.
In the multiyear study, the team looked at three pairs of chimpanzees -- three mothers and their offspring born in 2000 -- and tested them against nine human university students.
The apes were taught the order of single-digit Hindu-Arabic numerals and then tested on how they could remember them when displayed in random combinations.
The team flashed the numbers "1" through "9" on a screen at various time intervals -- 0.65 seconds, 0.43 seconds and 0.21 seconds.
The numbers were then replaced by blank squares and the subjects were asked to use the touch-screen to mark the original order.
The young chimpanzees performed better than the university students in both speed and accuracy even when they are interrupted by loud noises, the study said.
"Humans were slower than all of the three young chimpanzees in the response," it said. "In general, the performance of the three young chimpanzees was better than that of the three mothers."
The study is the latest confirming the high intelligence of chimpanzees, who are among humans' closest relatives.
Washoe, a chimp who could communicate 250 words in sign language and was considered the first animal to crack the language barrier with humans, died at age 42 in October in the United States.
2007-12-04 10:34:29 · 7 answers · asked by pia 1 in Social Science ➔ Anthropology
Humans are subject to so many different impressions, our brains are probably fuller with unimportant stuff like who's who in American Idol etc. Maybe humans had better memory a hundred years ago, before the age of information.
2007-12-04 10:43:15 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am curious what tool was used by this researcher to measure the differences in memory ability of a young simian
compared to those of an adult human. I do accept that there is an enormous amount of data regarding animal intelligence that has yet to be determined. And I am looking forward to the continued provision of accurate and irrefutable evidence provided by methods than can reveal how the minds of different animal species function.
2007-12-04 11:06:29 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The advanced cognitive processes active in the brains of adult human beings inhibit their ability to perform on that particular sort of memory test.
It's sort of like, you could do basic mathematical computations using a huge supercomputer, but a little adding machine will be quicker.
2007-12-04 13:18:21 · answer #3 · answered by Hera Sent Me 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't care if chimps have a better memory or are quicker when it comes to pushing squares on a screen. What I hope everyone knows is that human beings DID NOT evolve from a chimp. We just have a last common ancestor. I did not like that on CNN they reported we came from chimps!
2007-12-04 13:15:05 · answer #4 · answered by Miss 6 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Do you mean they remember moreso how to live in nature and respect it compared to humans.
2007-12-04 11:24:55 · answer #5 · answered by littleblanket 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ha! Who says we're superior?
2007-12-05 02:26:10 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i really dont care if chimps have better memories than humans
2007-12-04 10:43:25 · answer #7 · answered by la di da di da 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋