Great apes and ravens DON’T plan like humans: Researchers claim the animals can make plans ‘without thinking’
- Previous studies claimed planning in great apes and ravens develops through thinking, with the animals mentally simulating future scenarios
- However, new study found they can make plans through prior experiences
Ravens and great apes may not be quite as smart as we think.
Researchers have found that while they are able to plan ahead, it does not require thinking.
Instead, they can make plans instinctively through prior experiences.
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Swedish researchers found that great apes such as Colo, a silverback gorilla at Columbus zoo, and other great apes and ravens, can make plans without thinking, instead planning by using prior experiences
‘Some researchers have suggested that planning in great apes and ravens develops through thinking, that they simulate future scenarios and make decisions based on such mental simulations,’ said Johan Lind, associate professor in Ethology, at Centre for Cultural Evolution, Stockholm University, author of the study.
‘My study shows that planning behaviours and self-control in non-human animals instead can emerge through associative learning.’
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Newly developed learning models, similar to models within artificial intelligence research, showed how planning in ravens and great apes can develop through prior experiences without any need of thinking.
Researchers formulated a new mathematical model of learning in animals, similar to models in artificial intelligence research, and fed it similar scenarios as the ones ravens and great apes experienced in several planning studies.
The computer simulations showed that the learning model, that is unable to think or simulate future scenarios, was able to learn to plan as well as the animals did in the experiments.
The team say the study could mean we have overestimated the capabilities of ravens
This model is also capable of learning self-control.
It can learn to ignore small immediate food rewards to instead choose, for example, a tool that can only be used after a long delay.
But after the long delay the tool can be used to get a large food reward.
‘We know today that similar learning models within artificial intelligence research can learn to play board games and beat human players,’ said Lind.
‘However, these kinds of learning models are often ignored in the study of animal cognition.
‘Animals are often very efficient in learning from their experiences, and this helps them survive in places that often are hostile and competitive,’Johan Lind.
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