The Red Cloud chief., 1901-08-16
MONKEY INTELLECT.
Respects in Which They Show Re-
semblance to Man.
Irheir Method of Learning II supe-
rior 20 That Of Any Others Of h
Bsste C~reatios.- later
estsnU Facts.

A series of careful experiments
with monkeys has recently been con-
Quoted by Prof. Edward l.. Thorndike
to ascertain the power and process
BY which these animals acquire
knowledge. He has reached the con-
c%lusion, a Y a scientific paper. that
there il no warrant for the popular
idea 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 s~sseptials In an inventory OF
an animals mental capacities are its
sense powers. the kinds OF move
ments II can make and their deicacy.
completely and number. its instincts
or the sum Of those tendencies to feel
and act which il has apart from ex-
perience or learning and its method
Of learning or of modifying its be-
havior to suit the m"ultitudinous cir
cumstanccs of life. In each of these
respects the monkeys show kinship
with man.
In their motor equipment monkeys
possess first of all the muscular CO.
ordinations necessary to sustain an
upright position aud consequently
the use of the forelimhs. The move
ments OF these forclimbs are more in
number aud suited 10 more complex
and varied tasks than are those of
lower animals. The attractIveness of
the monkey cage in II geological gar
den is LARGELY due to the similarity
of the II rkcys' movements and our
own. The monkey not only has a
'Eoty &C a mans, but he also uses
il Ike n man.
Our y tive tendencies are so meta
morphosed by the education of "A civ
iliArd environment that in adult age
they seldom appear in recognizable
form. But il we take human beings
ut from six months to three years of
age or later we find plenty of traits
that appear in the monkeys. In fact,
the human instinct which is perhaps
of prime Importance in human mem
tality. the instinct. which perhaps j.
the real cause Of many of our most
boosted powers, has its clear proto-
type and homologue in the monkey.
] refer to the instructive enjoyment
OF physical aud mental activity in
general. to the tendencies to act and
feel as much IA possible. regardless
of any Interior practical considera-
tions, which we sometimes call de-
structiveness or constructivsness and
curiosity.
Even the casual observer, il he has
any psychological insight. will he
struck by the general. aimless, in
trinsically alu BILE (to the animals
feelings) physical activities of a
monkey compared with the special
lied. definitely aroused, utilitarian
activities OF a 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
20 his special organization comes up
he does nothing. Watch n monkey
and you cannot enumerate the things
he does, cannot discover the stimuli
to which he reacts. cannot conceive
the raison d'etre Of his pursuits.
Everything appeals to him. He likes
to he active for the sake Of activity.
The observer who has proper oppor-
%tunities and takes proper pains will
find this intrinsic interest to hold
true Of mental activity as we'll.
Finally. in their method OF learn
ing. although monkeys do not reach
the human stage OF a rich life of
ideas. yet they carry the animal
method OF learning, by the selection
OF impulses and associations OF them
with the different sense impressions,
to q point beyond that reached by
any other Of the lower animals. In
this. too. they resemble man, for he
differs from the lower animals not
only in the possession of a new sort
OF intelligence. but also in the ire
mendous extensions Of that sort
which he has in common with them
A fish learns slewly u few simple hab'
its. Man learns quickly al intinitude
Of habits that may be highly com
plex, Dogs and cats learn more than
the Ash, while monkeys learn more
than they. In the number Of things
he learns, the complex habits he car
form, the variety OF lines along
which he can learn them and in theil
narnnnanca uhap nnca forn,ad ths