Young chimp beats college student in memory tasks

[TheSeeker]

The Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Think you're smarter than a fifth-grader? How about a 5-year-old chimp? Japanese researchers pitted young chimps against human adults in tests of short-term memory, and overall, the chimps won.

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One memory test included three 5-year-old chimps who'd been taught the order of Arabic numerals 1 through 9, and a dozen human volunteers.

They saw nine numbers displayed on a computer screen. When they touched the first number, the other eight turned into white squares. The test was to touch all these squares in the order of the numbers that used to be there.

Results showed that the chimps, while no more accurate than the people, could do this faster.

The article goes on to explain another test where numbers are only briefly flashed on the screen and subjects must remember which numbers were located where and the Chimps did better at this too. Pretty amazing stuff.

I have heard that Chimps are faster at performing simple mental math as well but I don't have anything to back that up.

Original article can be found here

 

[BCI]

Chemicals and food-additives affect the brain, making you slow and drowsy. The average person doesn't feel much, but smart people do lose their edge.

 

[anti-matter]

No fracking way... I refuse to believe it. F the study F the link. I'm done with it.

 

[CYOTI]

The explaination I believe is that the working memory of 5 year old chimps is similar to photographic memory.

 

[Alaedhros]

Why is it so "amazing" that chimps may have better short-term visual memory than humans? What's the big deal here?

 

[Samurai8472]

anti-matter said:
No fracking way... I refuse to believe it. F the study F the link. I'm done with it.

You say that now but wait till this planet is ruled by damned dirty apes!

 

[All Seeing Eye]

All chimps, monkeys, apes, gorillas, baboons and all other similar species must immediately be given human rights, given jobs and forced to pay taxes.

 

[Zachary Smith]

Nothing to get excited about here at all. I hear the chimpanzees were named "Cornelius" and "Zira".

 

[Argus Skyhawk]

Since children tend to absorb information faster than adults, I wonder how the chimps would fare when competing with humans their own age. I suspect someone is already considering studying the subject. However, "Humans Outperform Chimps" won't be as newsworthy so we might not hear about it.

However, even if chimps have better short-term memories than human children, it won't surprise me or bother me. We humans obviously have the mental advantage for the most part (we are the ones who discovered fire, relativity, quantum mechanics, and--best of all--Mapquest), but intelligence is complicated; we don't need to be smartest in EVERY aspect. I have no idea why some people get offended at any suggestion that animals have some mental abilities as well.

 

[Johnny Rico]

TheSeeker said:

The Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Think you're smarter than a fifth-grader? How about a 5-year-old chimp? Japanese researchers pitted young chimps against human adults in tests of short-term memory, and overall, the chimps won.

.
.
.

One memory test included three 5-year-old chimps who'd been taught the order of Arabic numerals 1 through 9, and a dozen human volunteers.

They saw nine numbers displayed on a computer screen. When they touched the first number, the other eight turned into white squares. The test was to touch all these squares in the order of the numbers that used to be there.

Results showed that the chimps, while no more accurate than the people, could do this faster.

The article goes on to explain another test where numbers are only briefly flashed on the screen and subjects must remember which numbers were located where and the Chimps did better at this too. Pretty amazing stuff.

I have heard that Chimps are faster at performing simple mental math as well but I don't have anything to back that up.

Original article can be found here

I guess this kind of explains the level (or lack thereof) of some of the conversations we have around here on the TrekBBS.

On the other hand, if young children are better at absorbing material than adult just means that their internal RAM isn't all used up. For us adults to learn new things, our brains have to use virtual memory to store things as we clear out some of our RAM. And of course, virtual memory isn't as good as hardcore RAM is.

 

[dreadnought]

Well, they put a chimp in the White House didn't they? Incurious George.

 

[ancient]

Memory and intelligence are not the same thing.

Some of the most mentally retarded humans also have amazing memory, and Einstien couldn't figure out how to tie his shoes.

 

[dreadnought]

It's said by people in Indonesia (I think...been awhile since I read this) that the reason that Orangutans don't speak is that they don't want to be put to work. Seems intelligent to me.

 

[Amaris]

Johnny Rico said:

TheSeeker said:

The Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Think you're smarter than a fifth-grader? How about a 5-year-old chimp? Japanese researchers pitted young chimps against human adults in tests of short-term memory, and overall, the chimps won.

.
.
.

One memory test included three 5-year-old chimps who'd been taught the order of Arabic numerals 1 through 9, and a dozen human volunteers.

They saw nine numbers displayed on a computer screen. When they touched the first number, the other eight turned into white squares. The test was to touch all these squares in the order of the numbers that used to be there.

Results showed that the chimps, while no more accurate than the people, could do this faster.

The article goes on to explain another test where numbers are only briefly flashed on the screen and subjects must remember which numbers were located where and the Chimps did better at this too. Pretty amazing stuff.

I have heard that Chimps are faster at performing simple mental math as well but I don't have anything to back that up.

Original article can be found here

I guess this kind of explains the level (or lack thereof) of some of the conversations we have around here on the TrekBBS.

On the other hand, if young children are better at absorbing material than adult just means that their internal RAM isn't all used up. For us adults to learn new things, our brains have to use virtual memory to store things as we clear out some of our RAM. And of course, virtual memory isn't as good as hardcore RAM is.

My paging file far exceeds the amount of virtual RAM my system carries.


J.

 

[CYOTI]

dreadnought said:
It's said by people in Indonesia (I think...been awhile since I read this) that the reason that Orangutans don't speak is that they don't want to be put to work. Seems intelligent to me.

Well that is until you give it a screwdriver and it tries to eat it.

 

[TerriO]

dreadnought said:
Well, they put a chimp in the White House didn't they? Incurious George.

Let's keep this out of here, please. This is hardly political science.

 

[Luckyflux]

This is an outrage!! The next chimp I see, I am going to fling the biggest wad of poo at...

 

[dreadnought]

TerriO said:

dreadnought said:
Well, they put a chimp in the White House didn't they? Incurious George.

Let's keep this out of here, please. This is hardly political science.

My apologies...it was simply too rich of an opportunity to resist...won't happen again.

 

[Opus]

Chimp beats pot smoking, binge drink college students? I'm not surprised...

 

[CYOTI]

These I believe were japanese college student.