A Cognitive Task as Enrichment for Chimpanzees (<i>Pan troglodytes</i>) in Sanctuary

<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>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Primate Behavior

Year dc:date.available

2019

Author dc:creator

• Rubio, Federico

Contributors dc:contributor

• Jessica A. Mayhew
• Matthew Altman
• Kara Gabriel

• chimpanzees cognition welfare touchscreen enrichment reasoning
• Biological and Physical Anthropology

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/1253

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.cwu.edu:etd-2248