Blog #184--Chimp Chat

Hearing that the use of chimpanzees in research is being reduced significantly warms my heart. They have been enslaved and subjected to all manner of experimentation because of their similarity to humans. But that similarity has also become a primary reason that many have been freed from their cages and allowed to live in sanctuaries more suited to their natural preferences.

I find it ironic but satisfying that we are finally beginning to accept what some of us have known in our hearts and minds for a long time: great apes and humans are closely related, not just physically but emotionally and mentally as well. The human ego has resisted this fact for a long time, hoping to separate itself from all other life forms. It has fought against Charles Darwin’s study of evolution in large part because it didn’t wish to recognize our similarity to apes and others. But whether we evolved from the great apes or are developing from a common ancestor is immaterial. We are all variations on the same theme.

Of course, some of the previous research has produced results that have led to this modified understanding of chimpanzees and their relationship with humans. For instance, researchers Sarah F. Brosnan and her colleagues at the University of Texas published results of a study which evaluated fairness in chimpanzees in the journal Animal Behavior. Chimps were used because they are known to be highly individualistic and competitive about food.

The researchers first determined that the 16 chimps they worked with preferred a grape reward to a carrot in exchange for an inedible token (like buying food with money). Then they tried a similar experiment using pairs of chimps. Initially, all chimpanzees were given the same food reward to get a control result. Next, one would be given a grape and the other a carrot in exchange for the tokens. Then they showed the chimps grapes but gave them carrots once they made the exchange. The results of the three tests were then compared.

The chimpanzees that were given a carrot objected if their mates received a grape. And those that were given carrots after being shown grapes were more likely to reject the carrots than those that had no expectation of grapes. If there was no fairness, they threw a tantrum. This is exactly what happens when one child in a family is given rewards in excess of his or her siblings (children of all ages, for that matter).

However, the chimpanzees also demonstrated a degree of concern for others. A significant number of chimps refused a grape when their partner in the experiment was given a carrot. This demonstrated a degree of moral development unexpected by the researchers.

Eric Michael Johnson wrote an article for the 12/11/12 edition of Scientific American called “The Gospel of Wealth Fails the Inequity Test in Primates.” He compared results with people like Andrew Carnegie, who believed that survival fitness was enhanced in those capable of making more money than the rest. Carnegie acknowledged the inequality of this concept, but his personal wealth accumulation fit his bias. Many others followed his lead over the years.

Johnson draws a conclusion from these chimpanzee experiments that contradict Carnegie:

“The Andrew Carnegies of the world have led us to believe that they are an exception to the social contract; fairness and equality may be fine for the little people, but for the masters of industry it is best to leave such quaint ideas by the wayside. But he was as wrong about this as he was about the way evolution operates. As we move to regulate financial markets it might be wise to consider Darwin’s understanding of human society and follow the lead of our ape cousins. By emphasizing cooperation and sympathy with other members of our society we stand a better chance of success than each of us working alone. But if the situation is unfair we should refuse to perpetuate it, even if that means giving up a larger share of the pie for ourselves.”

Some current research on chimpanzees is now done by observing them in their own habitats. This is an excellent way to study the dynamic interplay between members of one family and other families living in adjacent territory. Like the research mentioned above, the more we watch, the more we realize our connections with them.

While the following experiment was performed in a zoo, at least it was an environment more conducive to normal behavior than small cages. Scotland’s Edinburgh Zoo put a group of chimpanzees raised in the Netherlands together with a group raised in Scotland. Chimpanzees tend to be territorial and don’t usually allow this kind of family mixing.

Chimpanzees don’t have the ability to speak a complex language, at least that we can recognize and translate, but they do form sounds that, when combined with their body language and voice intonation can get their points across. The Dutch chimps loved apples, but the Scottish chimps disliked them. The Dutch chimps used a high-pitched grunt when referring to apples, while the Scottish chimps used a lower-pitched grunt. But after three years together, the Dutch chimps started using the low-pitched grunt to refer to apples. This proved the Dutch chimps learned the new word from the Scottish chimps.

This really shouldn’t surprise anyone, but of course it did. Research must be methodical and painstaking in its precision before scientists will accept the results they obtain. This is necessary to prevent skewed results or fraud. But it takes even longer and becomes a much bigger surprise when scientists begin their research assuming the species with which they are working is inferior to them. This assumption also permits us to delay overcoming our biases, allowing us to avoid recognizing our natural similarity to chimpanzees and all other life forms.

Chimpanzees are our brothers, whether we like it or not. If anything, results such as those described above show us we have no corner on the market in morality or higher awareness. If we were to study species under the assumption they are like us rather than different, we would learn a great deal about ourselves. Because they are like us!

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