Consciousness in Chimpanzees

When I asked someone who she liked to spend 24 hours with, she mentioned that she would like to meet Dr. Jane Goodall (a primatologist). I then found my final paper that I did for the International Baccalaureate program during my final year in high school. My paper focused on consciousness in chimpanzees and has references to Jane Goodall. I thought I would share it with you all as it was a prominent moment in my journey when I worked on this paper. Happy Reading!

 

 

1.1 Introduction

Evidence of the existence of consciousness in chimpanzees has been shown through experiments in communication and behavior. During the process of communication, a mental activity revealing consciousness occurs in these primates. In their versatile behavior, emotions and thoughts are revealed. Additionally, a range of scientifically conducted experiments displays the conscious mind of the primate.

1.2 Mental Activity during Communication

Since consciousness is a vast concept, the definition of consciousness is required. According to the Canadian Encyclopedia Plus, consciousness is defined as ‘the indication of state of awareness of self and environment.’ Consciousness also includes aspects that exercise the mind such as thinking, remembering, planning, understanding, feeling, and recognizing self and surroundings.

During the process of communication, a mental activity in chimpanzees is occurring which is a sign of their consciousness. Humans use their ability to communicate through language as a means to express their thoughts and emotions. Therefore, if chimpanzees could be taught to use language, they could tell us what was on their minds. In the past, scientists did, in fact, try to teach apes to speak, but no animal could master more than four words. Then it was discovered that apes lack the vocal equipment required to speak. 

This lack of vocal apparatus, however, did not stop the scientists from trying other methods to communicate with the primates. In the mid-sixties, an experiment called Project Washoe taught us a great deal about the chimpanzee’s mind. A husband-and-wife team of psychologists at the University of Nevada, Allen and Beatrice Gardner, decided to use chimpanzees’ natural ability to make gestures. The Gardners pioneered in this field with the aid of a female chimpanzee named Washoe and taught her the American Sign Language (ASL), which deaf and mute people use to communicate with others. 

The Gardners achieved extraordinary results with Washoe. She learned sign quickly and soon began to combine its gestures in a meaningful way to communicate simple thoughts. A mental image of the object would appear in her mind before signing it. For example, if she were asked to fetch an apple, which was out of sight, she would be able to locate it. This accomplishment indicated a mental activity occurring in Washoe’s mind, picturing the object and recognizing the need to find it. 

When Washoe met other chimpanzees who had also learned ASL, they held long talks with each other. The trainers complained that the chimpanzees spoke too rapidly and could not easily be followed. Washoe could converse with deaf visitors and they could understand 70% of her communication attempts in the first visit and 95% by the second. Sometimes, the visitors would ask her what she had done previously, and she was able to respond. A memory recall, which is a hallmark of a conscious mind, was required to answer the question. During her training, Washoe learned to combine signs to form sentences such as ‘Gimme’. Sometimes she would create a sign for an object she saw for the first time. During her first encounter with a swan, she created the sign ‘water’ and ‘bird’ together. She also invented her own sign for ‘bib’ by drawing the outline on her chest. These actions suggest that she really understood the meaning of the signs she was using. 

Washoe is certainly not the only ape who has crossed the human language barrier. Dr. David Premack, working at the University of Pennsylvania, used a different technique and taught another young chimp called Sarah to use plastic symbols instead of gestures. The symbols, which represented words, had different color and shape for each word and were placed on a magnetic surface. Dr. Premack’s intent was to see if chimps could recognize the relationship between words, forming simple sentences and reasoning by analogy. Sarah was first taught to identify the meaning of each symbol. Once she was able to distinguish the symbols, the following step was to combine words, leading to simple sentences. A mental activity was occurring during the formation of sentences. Sarah learned to read the given question and she was able to answer it, even though her sentences were not always grammatically correct. 

Additionally, there was a chimpanzee, named Kanzi, who showed the ability to combine words and identify objects by name. Sometimes, Kanzi would describe what he intended to do such as play a game. Planning future actions, which is a hallmark of a conscious mind, means that chimpanzees can plan ahead and do it. 

Untamed chimpanzees also convey their thoughts and emotions through communication. In the wild, chimps, like other animals, will battle each other in the quest of food, mate or territory. It has been noted that chimpanzees send out false signals to deceive their fellows to conceal their intentions and to gain advantage in their needs. Deception requires a sense of surroundings, as well as others, indicating consciousness.

1.3 Revealed Emotions and Thoughts in Versatile Behavior

Communication is not the only avenue to demonstrate chimpanzees’ intellectual and conscious powers. In the chimpanzees' behavior, their emotions and thoughts are revealed. Chimpanzees have the ability to learn quickly, act practically, and accomplish tasks, which are components of their versatile behavior. Chimpanzees can adapt to changed circumstances, which force them to learn constantly. They possess the knowledge of the use of implements to manipulate their environment, or else they would be struggling for survival. All these abilities are sign of consciousness.

In the wild, searching for termites signifies a mental processing in chimps. A chimp would first look for an adequate tree branch, ripping off all the leaves and twigs. After poking it into a nest filled with termites, the primate would inspect the branch closely and eat the termites. The chimp was thinking about the selection of branch and the collection of termites prior to preparing the probe and this may be seen as a sign of consciousness. 

Chimpanzees recognize the importance of companionship and family members. During her observations in Gombe, Jane Goodall, an observer of chimpanzees’ natural behavior, described the reaction of a male chimpanzee called Flint, who was eight years old when his mother, Flo, died. For hours, Flint sat beside the body and mourned over his mother’s death. Occasionally he would tug her hand, hoping she would wake up and play with him. After a few days, he climbed a tree and stared at the sleeping nest where he had shared with his mother earlier. A month later, Flint died of grief. We can see that parenthood has a tremendous effect on chimps, similar to humans. Flint was very close to his mother and he could not bear to live without her. A part of Flint’s sense of self was defined by his relationship with his mother. Psychological research has proven that companionship and the love of a mother are a necessity to a chimpanzee. 

When meeting a new acquaintance, chimpanzees search for satisfaction. They look into the eyes for signs of mistrust, dislike, fear, or other negative characteristics, because “eyes are the windows into the mind” to these primates. If they are unsuccessful in finding these negative traits, then acceptance is awarded by a generous kiss or a hug. When Jane Goodall met an eight-year-old chimpanzee named Lucy, a similar procedure occurred. Lucy brought her face closely to Goodall’s, staring into her eyes. When Lucy was satisfied with her search, she embraced Goodall and gave a huge kiss, in hope a friendship was going to blossom. 

Joy, happiness, and excitement are recognizable in the behavior of a chimpanzee. Nim Chimpsky, a chimp who was raised in a human family, would sign ‘happy’ every time he was being tickled or was excited. When the time arrived to leave the family, he became extremely sad. Believing that the tears in everyone’s eyes were caused by his actions, Nim would apologize, understanding the meaning of tears. Whenever a reunion was arranged with the family, Nim would beam, shriek and pound the ground for three minutes, gazing at each of the family members. After calming down, he would spend an hour hugging everyone and playing with them. Nim disliked their departure, because reunions were the only occasion at which he would express happiness for more than a few minutes.

Chimpanzees express, though not vocally, thoughts and emotions in their everyday life. They experience an emotional life showing grief, joy, and solidarity, because chimpanzees are aware of their surroundings and react to them. If someone close dies, sorrow will appear in their behavior due to the loss. At a reunion, a chimpanzee will feel excited and happy to meet its loved ones.

All these situations and others show reactions similar to those which humans express. If humans are conscious beings, then this can be said for the chimpanzees who show similar behavior. It is not the only sign of consciousness.

 

1.4 Scientifically Conducted Experiments

There have been scientific experiments that display the conscious mind of a chimpanzee. In these experiments, situations forced the ape to think and react. The problems that they had to solve required mental activity. A scientist named Wolfgang Kohler showed the intelligence of these primates by making them accomplish their objective indirectly. A caged chimp had to get bananas which were beyond its reach. The ape would pause for a while, after attempting to grab the bananas. Spontaneously, the chimpanzee attached two sticks together in an appropriate way to successfully get the food. From this situation, it has been noted that chimpanzees could make tools and use them. Making and using tools involves recognizing the problem and planning the action. Another problem Kohler experimented was to get bananas which were placed high above scattered boxes. Another chimpanzee who was facing this situation sat awhile and suddenly stacked the boxes on top of each other. Kohler observed that, after doing unproductive activities, chimpanzees carefully studied the problem during the pause, then a flash of intelligence arrived suddenly which solved the problem. This process is called insight. It requires mental activity, meaning studying a problem and solving it. Kohler concluded that solving problems is mental processing, an indication of a conscious mind.

The capability of self-recognition is an aspect of a conscious mind. The mirror test serves to establish the presence of self-recognition in chimpanzees. A psychologist, Gordon G. Gallup Jr., reported this experiment in 1970. He applied a bright colored dye mark on the forehead of four anesthetized chimpanzees. They were exposed regularly, and had become accustomed to seeing their mirror reflection. Gallup also marked two other chimps that had never used a mirror. Once the medicine wore off and the mirror was placed in front of them, the chimps became aware of the mark. They touched it, rubbed it, picked it with their fingers, and gave every sign of recognition that the dye mark was on their body. Those lacking experience with mirrors continued to ignore the mark. Certainly this experiment suggests that chimps recognize the mirror image as a representation of their bodies. Chimps have learned to use the mirror to examine their bodies and observe any changes occurring in their physical appearance, indicating that they acknowledge their own mental experiences.

 

1.5 Conclusion

Accumulating all this evidence takes us a step closer to the discoveries of animals’ capabilities. Acknowledging animal consciousness will alter our views on chimpanzees and their world. We have seen that they are able to communicate sign language and to survive intelligently in the adapted environment. Though, there are certain people who deny the existence of consciousness in animals. These people believe that animals’ actions are done with no conscious state of mind. Though, if they continue to accept this concept, it will be very difficult, at the end, to believe that consciousness is attributed to animals. If we look at the evidence positively and continue to search for more, we might be able to break the barrier between animals and humans, thereby learning to live more harmoniously.