Relative response to digital tablet devices and painting as sensory enrichment in captive chimpanzees

Digital devices, including tablet computers and other touchscreens, can potentially serve as flexible and convenient means for providing behavioral enrichment activities to captive primates. Despite increased interest in incorporating technology into enrichment programs, no direct quantitative comparison has previously been made between the effectiveness of typical tactile enrichment activities and enrichment activities on digital devices. One way in which these activities differ is in the degree of controllability afforded the animals in interacting with the enrichment objects, since digital devices will be limiting to varying degrees based on the particulars of software and the interface format. This study compared the effects of painting with brush on paper to those of a painting application on a digital tablet device (iPad™) in eight group-living chimpanzees at the Honolulu Zoo. Observations were analyzed across baseline, enrichment, and post-enrichment periods to measure significant differences in the reduction of displacement and stereotypic behaviors. We found that the digital tablet device running an application that permits production of semi-automated visualizations, was as effective as painting with brush on paper in reducing some stereotypic and displacement behaviors, including yawning and self-picking. However, the digital tablet was not as effective in reducing other displacement behaviors, nor was it as effective in retaining the chimpanzee's attention. These results confirm a useful role for digital devices in enrichment programs but suggest a need to assess individual device applications in their capacity to promote greater controllability and sensory breadth of the enrichment experience.