“The researchers observed the monkeys evaluating the quality of the evidence presented, altering their behavior based on what they saw, and even revising their beliefs in light of new information.”says the article in the scientific magazine.
Animal-assisted “flexible” reasoning is associated with children who are at least four years old, according to researchers.
To ensure that the chimpanzees’ decisions were associated with reasoning and not animal instinct, scientists carried out controlled tests and used computer models.
The analyzes ruled out simpler explanations, such as the theory that chimpanzees preferred the most recent cue or the hypothesis that the animals reacted to the most obvious cue.
The models confirmed that the chimpanzees’ decisions coincided with rational thoughts.
The researchers intend to extend the study to other species of primates and build a comparative map of reasoning abilities in different evolutionary branches.