Daily camera., 1901-08-20
MONKEY INTELLECT.
Respects In Which They Show Re.
semblance to Man.
Their Method of Learning II Supe-
rior to That Of Any others OF the
Brute Creation Inter-
estinE Facts.

Quoted by Pref. Edward l.. Thorndike
to ascertain the power and process
by which these animals acquire
knowledge He has reached the con.
cluSion, says q scientific paper, that
there is 10 warrant for the popular
idca that monkeys and other animals
learn from human example and by
the processes followed by man. But,
the experimenter says, the fact that
monkeys do not possess the human
types of ideas must not be taken as
evidence that they are no nearer rela-
tives to us mentally than are the
other lower animals. On the con
trary, they occupy an intermediate
position in every main psychological
feature between mammals in general
and the human species.
The essentials In an inventory OF
an animals mental capacities are its
sense powers. the kinds of move
ments it can make and their deHcacy,
complexity and number, its instincts
or the sum of those tendencies to feel
and act which. it has apart from ex-
perieuce or learning and its method
OF learning or of modifying its be-
havior to suit the multitudinous cir
cumstances of life. In each of these
respects the monkeys show kinship
with man.
In their motor equipment monkeys
possess first of oil the muscular CO.
ordinations necessary to sustain an
upright position aud consequently
the use of the forelimbs. The move
ments of these forelimhs are more In
number and suited to more complex
and varied tasks than are those OF
lower animals. The attractiveness of
the monkey cage in geological gar
den is largely due to the similarity
Of the monkeys movements and our
own. The monkey not only has
body like q mans, but he also uses
it like o man.
Our native tendencies are so meta
morphosed by the education of civ
ilized environment that in adult age
they seldom appear in recognizable
form. But ii we take human beings
At from six months to three years Of
sse or later we find plenty OF traits
,ha. appear in the monkeys. In fact,
the human instinct which is perhaps
OF primo Importance in human men
talltv. the instinct, which perhaps is
the real cause of many OF our most
boasted powers, has its clear proto-
type and homologne in the monkey.
| refer to the instructive enjoyment
Of physical and mental activity In
general. to the tendencies to act and
feel as much as possible, regardless
Of any ulterior practical eonsidera-
tinHs. which we sometimes call de-
stractiYeness or constructlyeness and
curiosity.
Even the casual observer, II he has
any psychological insight, will be
struck by the general, aimless, in
trinsicaliy valuable tto the animals
feelinCs) physical activities Of
monkey compared with the special
lzed. definitely aroused, utilitarinn
activities OF dog or cat Watch the
latter and he does but few things,
does them in response to obvious
sense presentations, does them with
practical consequences of food, sex
indulgence, preparation for adult
battles. etc II nothing that appeals
TO his special organization comes up
he does nothing. Watch o monkey
and you cannot enumerate the things
he does, cannot discover the stimuli
10 which he reacts, cannot conceive
.hc Taisnn d'etTe of his pursuits.
Everything appeals TO him lie hEfs
10 be active for the sake Of activity
The observer who has proper opporN
tunities and takes proper pains Will
ird this intrinsic interest to hold
true OF mental activity as well.
Ffnuuy. In their method of learn
ing. although monkeys do not reach
the human stage OF rich life OF
IDEAS. yet they carry the animal
method Of learning. by the selection
of impulses ard associations OF them
with the different sense impressions,
to point beyond thst reached by
ary other OF the lower animals. In
this. too, they resemble man, for he
differs from the lower animals not
only in the possession Of new sort
NJ Intelligence, bu. also In the ire
mendoas extensions OF that sort
which be has in common with them.
A fish learns slowly o few simple hab-
its. Man learns quickly an infniiude
If habits that may be highly com
olex. Dogs and cats learn more than
the fish. while monkeys learn more
.han they. In the number Of things
he learns, the complex habits he can
form. the variety of lines along
which he can learn them and in their
permanence when once formed the
monkey justifics his inclusion with
man in a separate mental genus.