Chimpanzees and the YouTube effect

A team of researchers led by Dr Elizabeth Price at the University of St Andrews in Scotland says that chimpanzees can learn from video. A group of the primates were shown a video of a chimp making a tool which it then used to drag food back into its cage. Some were shown the entire video, while others watched only parts. The chimps seem to have learned the technique simply by watching the video in a group. The aim of the experiment was "to understand exactly how much information they need to work out how to do the task," Price told the BBC.

The chimps that watched the entire video in the St Andrews experiment seemed to learn quickly and effectively. As a result, researchers are particularly interested in the role video instruction could have on the education of animals. It may be that social, interactive learning could be just as effective for certain species of animal as for humans. Further research projects will include gorilla fishing and even monkey tennis. Dr Price's team is also planning to carry out the same test with young children to find out how much they rely on social learning.