Are Monkeys Smarter than Children?

Summary

Children exhibit a unique human trait called over-imitation, where they copy unnecessary actions, unlike monkeys who focus on the end goal, suggesting that imitation is a key aspect of human learning and cultural transmission.

Abstract

The article explores the cognitive differences between children and monkeys, particularly in the realm of imitation. Science writer Carl Zimmer initially believed his daughter's ability to interact with objects was indicative of human superiority over chimpanzees. However, observations at a research lab revealed that while chimps efficiently retrieved a toy from a box using the most direct method, Zimmer's daughter and other children replicated all actions demonstrated by adults, even if they were irrelevant to the task. This phenomenon, known as over-imitation, has been observed across cultures and is considered a distinctly human behavior. Psychologist Mark Nielsen's research with Kalahari Bushmen children further supports this, showing that children tend to imitate actions that are not necessary for achieving a goal. This behavior is thought to be crucial for the transmission of complex cultural knowledge, as it emphasizes not just the outcome but also the process of how things are done.

Opinions

Carl Zimmer initially underestimated the cognitive capabilities of chimpanzees compared to human children.
The research suggests that while monkeys are adept at problem-solving to achieve an end, humans are unique in their propensity to imitate actions, even when they do not contribute to solving the problem at hand.
Over-imitation is seen as a fundamental human trait and may be essential for the development and continuity of human culture.
The ability to imitate, even unnecessarily, is posited to be an evolutionary advantage for humans, facilitating complex learning such as driving, writing, and cooking.
Imitation is now considered a significant evolutionary leap for hominids, distinguishing human cognitive development from that of other primates.

In some ways, monkeys are smarter, but children do strange things. That might be the key to our genius.

Science writer Carl Zimmer thought for sure his 4-year-old daughter was smarter than a chimpanzee. After all, chimpanzees couldn’t talk. They couldn’t draw cartoons. And they couldn’t play hide-and-seek. It was no contest. His daughter could get a toy out of a box just as easily as a chimpanzee. At least that’s the way it started anyway, he wrote in The New York Times.

He took his daughter to a lab in New Haven. She listened intently to a researcher talk about the transparent box. After the researcher put a plastic turtle inside, the researcher asked Carl’s daughter to get it out. And even though there was a door on the box, his daughter completely disregarded that. She tore the box apart at its Velcro and got the turtle. Not bad. Chimps got the toy too, but they mostly used the door.

But then a different researcher mixed things up at a later meeting. This researcher showed Carl’s daughter the transparent box and how to open the door, but only after moving an attached bolt back and forth on the top of the box and tapping on it.

When researchers did the same thing with chimps, the chimps all ignored the bolt and the tapping. They simply opened the door. It was pretty clear to them that the other steps weren’t necessary. Smart chimps.

What about Carl’s daughter? How did she do? Clearly, she would just open the door like the chimps? She wouldn’t do all the other irrelevant steps. That didn’t make sense. But wait, she did! She did all the steps. She moved the bolt and tapped on it before opening the door. Huh? In fact, in four offer puzzles, she did the unnecessary actions too.

Scientists call it over-imitation. It’s a phenomenon that has been replicated elsewhere. Mark Nielsen, a psychologist at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, took a similar type of box out to Kalahari Bushmen children. Nielsen showed the children how the box worked and the door that opened. But what happened when he traced circles over the box with a stick before opening the door? Sure enough, the children did the same thing, just like Carl’s daughter in New Haven.

So what gives? Why are all these children imitating senseless actions? While monkeys focused on the ends, the prize inside the box, humans focused on the means of getting there. And that’s the crucial point. Other primates are bad at imitation, but we are great at it. Even doing it when it’s not even needed! “Over-imitation is a fundamentally human phenomenon, one that may be critical to the transmission of human culture” said Nielsen in Science Magazine. “It is knowing the way things are done, not what gets done, that is important.”

Not long ago imitation wasn’t thought to be very important. Now it might represent a big evolutionary leap for hominids that separates us from other primates. Scientists theorize that we are hard-wired to imitate, that we do it automatically, without thinking. We are born imitators. Copycats. It’s how we learn, especially complex things. Things like learning to drive a car. Learning to write with a pencil. Learning to cook a delicious meal. All those things are learned by following and copying closely what someone else does. Try learning without imitating it first. You will have a very hard time. Trust me.