Chimps counting dots means they know the meaning of numbers

[OrphanSeasun]

I'm a iittle surprised at how quickly it counted the dots. Maybe I'm a slow counter. : (

[NinjaOutfitInTheWash]

@OrphanSeasun No, I think he counts faster than a regular human does.

[gladegaurd]

i would love to see them flash 2 amounts of dots one after another then show the numbers. then the chimp would have to add. such as show 3 dots, then show 6 dots and get the chimp to add them and press 9.

[TemplarX2]

The chimp can only count to eight. The notion of nine seems to be lost on it. But the speed at which it processes the information is remarkable.

[gopherdude]

Chimpanzee's have VERY good short term memory, much better then our own.

[vxvid]

This video shows the chimp can use symbolism. It can use a symbol, a written number, to mean a quantity.

Notice that the numberals are presented in random orders, and the quantity dots are presented in different patterns. i.e. five dots will show up as a different pattern on the screen each time it appears.(times 0:08 and 0:35).

I think this means the chimp is counting the dots.

What you are asking the chimp to do is add. (3+1=4). I think he may be using that logic too.

[djancak]

I'm glad to see a video that actually provides evidence towards the claim. This experiment does indeed show that the chimp can correlate the amount of dots on the screen to a number, as opposed to recite a list or make rough estimates. However this still is not enough evidence to show that the chimp is actually counting. Counting is a logical process. Teach the monkey that 1+1=2, then 2+1=3, then 3+1=4. If it can figure out the rest from this simple rule, then it will have learned how to count.

[laurens890]

It sometimes looks a bit like the chimp realy is counting, moving her/it's fingers acros the dots.