Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 1, 2026

Knowing What Counts: Unbiased Stereology in the Non-human Primate Brain
11:25

Knowing What Counts: Unbiased Stereology in the Non-human Primate Brain

Published on: May 14, 2009

Chimpanzees Consider Humans' Psychological States when Drawing Statistical Inferences

Johanna Eckert1, Hannes Rakoczy2, Josep Call3

  • 1Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Göttingen, Waldweg 26, 37073 Göttingen, Germany; Leibniz Science Campus "Primate Cognition", German Primate Center, Kellnerweg 4, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.

Current Biology : CB
|June 5, 2018
PubMed
Summary

Chimpanzees use statistical information but can override it when considering experimenters' mental states, like biases and visual access. This suggests shared origins of statistical reasoning between apes and humans.

Keywords:
Pan troglodytesbehaviorgreat apesintuitive statisticsmental statesnonhuman primatesprobabilistic reasoningrandom samplingsanctuary livingsocial cognition

More Related Videos

Perceptual and Category Processing of the Uncanny Valley Hypothesis' Dimension of Human Likeness: Some Methodological Issues07:34

Perceptual and Category Processing of the Uncanny Valley Hypothesis' Dimension of Human Likeness: Some Methodological Issues

Published on: June 3, 2013

Assessment of Social Cognition in Non-human Primates Using a Network of Computerized Automated Learning Device (ALDM) Test Systems08:42

Assessment of Social Cognition in Non-human Primates Using a Network of Computerized Automated Learning Device (ALDM) Test Systems

Published on: May 5, 2015

Related Concept Videos

Naturalistic Observations02:30

Naturalistic Observations

If you want to understand how behavior occurs, one of the best ways to gain information is to simply observe the behavior in its natural context. However, people might change their behavior in unexpected ways if they know they are being observed. How do researchers obtain accurate information when people tend to hide their natural behavior? As an example, imagine that your professor asks everyone in your class to raise their hand if they always wash their hands after using the restroom. Chances...
Statistical Significance01:37

Statistical Significance

Once data is collected from both the experimental and the control groups, a statistical analysis is conducted to find out if there are meaningful differences between the two groups. A statistical analysis determines how likely any difference found is due to chance (and thus not meaningful). In psychology, group differences are considered meaningful, or significant, if the odds that these differences occurred by chance alone are 5 percent or less. Stated another way, if we repeated this...
The Representativeness Heuristic02:13

The Representativeness Heuristic

The representative heuristic describes a biased way of thinking, in which you unintentionally stereotype someone or something. For example, you may assume that your professors spend their free time reading books and engaging in intellectual conversation, because the idea of them spending their time playing volleyball or visiting an amusement park does not fit in with your stereotypes of professors.
Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination02:55

Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination

Humans are very diverse and although we share many similarities, we also have many differences. The social groups we belong to help form our identities (Tajfel, 1974). These differences may be difficult for some people to reconcile, which may lead to prejudice toward people who are different. Prejudice is a negative attitude and feeling toward an individual based solely on one’s membership in a particular social group (Allport, 1954; Brown, 2010). Prejudice is common against people who are...
Cognitivism01:17

Cognitivism

Cognitive psychology emerged as a significant field in the mid-20th century. It focused on understanding humans' internal mental processes. This approach emphasizes how people perceive, remember, think, and solve problems—elements critical to human cognition.
Previously dominated by behaviorism, which prioritized observable behaviors and largely ignored mental processes, psychology transformed in the 1950s. Cognitive psychologists argue that understanding how we think and process information is...
First Impression01:09

First Impression

First impressions play a crucial role in social perception, shaping how individuals assess others in professional, academic, and interpersonal contexts. Psychological research highlights the significance of cognitive biases, such as the primacy and recency effects, which influence how people interpret and recall information.The Primacy Effect and Cognitive AnchoringThe primacy effect describes the tendency for initial information to impact judgment disproportionately. When individuals encounter...