Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) hold an especially powerful attraction for researchers interested in cognition and how it developed to the degree observed in humans specifically and primates more generally. Chimpanzees are behaviorally complex primates with compelling data supporting their possession of intricate internal lives. The objective of this study was to simultaneously learn more of the cognitive process of inductive reasoning while also assessing the efficacy of a computerized box as a novel form of enrichment to aid in improving the environment of captive chimpanzees. Three social groups at the retired medical research chimpanzee sanctuary Project Chimps were given voluntary access to an interactive box inspired by previous touchscreen studies. Individuals varied widely in their interactions with the box but did not perform above chance on the preliminary levels of the task. Interest in the box was also observed to correlate negatively with the number of sessions so that exploration in the final sessions were significantly lower than that recorded in the first sessions. These results highlight the need for refinement in provisioning captive chimpanzees with interactive technology as enrichment.
","abstract_html":"<p>Chimpanzees (<em>Pan troglodytes</em>) hold an especially powerful attraction for researchers interested in cognition and how it developed to the degree observed in humans specifically and primates more generally. Chimpanzees are behaviorally complex primates with compelling data supporting their possession of intricate internal lives. The objective of this study was to simultaneously learn more of the cognitive process of inductive reasoning while also assessing the efficacy of a computerized box as a novel form of enrichment to aid in improving the environment of captive chimpanzees. Three social groups at the retired medical research chimpanzee sanctuary Project Chimps were given voluntary access to an interactive box inspired by previous touchscreen studies. Individuals varied widely in their interactions with the box but did not perform above chance on the preliminary levels of the task. Interest in the box was also observed to correlate negatively with the number of sessions so that exploration in the final sessions were significantly lower than that recorded in the first sessions. These results highlight the need for refinement in provisioning captive chimpanzees with interactive technology as enrichment.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Rubio, Federico"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Primate Behavior","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Jessica A. Mayhew","Matthew Altman","Kara Gabriel"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2019-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:37:42Z","subjects":["chimpanzees cognition welfare touchscreen enrichment reasoning","Biological and Physical Anthropology"],"languages":["English"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/1253","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Jessica A. Mayhew","Matthew Altman","Kara Gabriel"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Rubio, Federico"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2019-07-12T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Primate Behavior"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["chimpanzees cognition welfare touchscreen enrichment reasoning","Biological and Physical Anthropology"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/1253"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) hold an especially powerful attraction for researchers interested in cognition and how it developed to the degree observed in humans specifically and primates more generally. Chimpanzees are behaviorally complex primates with compelling data supporting their possession of intricate internal lives. The objective of this study was to simultaneously learn more of the cognitive process of inductive reasoning while also assessing the efficacy of a computerized box as a novel form of enrichment to aid in improving the environment of captive chimpanzees. Three social groups at the retired medical research chimpanzee sanctuary Project Chimps were given voluntary access to an interactive box inspired by previous touchscreen studies. Individuals varied widely in their interactions with the box but did not perform above chance on the preliminary levels of the task. Interest in the box was also observed to correlate negatively with the number of sessions so that exploration in the final sessions were significantly lower than that recorded in the first sessions. These results highlight the need for refinement in provisioning captive chimpanzees with interactive technology as enrichment.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A Cognitive Task as Enrichment for Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in Sanctuary"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Jessica A. Mayhew","Matthew Altman","Kara Gabriel"],"dc:creator":["Rubio, Federico"],"dc:date.available":["2019-07-12T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) hold an especially powerful attraction for researchers interested in cognition and how it developed to the degree observed in humans specifically and primates more generally. Chimpanzees are behaviorally complex primates with compelling data supporting their possession of intricate internal lives. The objective of this study was to simultaneously learn more of the cognitive process of inductive reasoning while also assessing the efficacy of a computerized box as a novel form of enrichment to aid in improving the environment of captive chimpanzees. Three social groups at the retired medical research chimpanzee sanctuary Project Chimps were given voluntary access to an interactive box inspired by previous touchscreen studies. Individuals varied widely in their interactions with the box but did not perform above chance on the preliminary levels of the task. Interest in the box was also observed to correlate negatively with the number of sessions so that exploration in the final sessions were significantly lower than that recorded in the first sessions. These results highlight the need for refinement in provisioning captive chimpanzees with interactive technology as enrichment.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/1253"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:subject":["chimpanzees cognition welfare touchscreen enrichment reasoning","Biological and Physical Anthropology"],"dc:title":["A Cognitive Task as Enrichment for Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in Sanctuary"],"dc:type":["Text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Primate Behavior"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:37:42Z"}