Any Primatologists on NT? vol. Cognitive Enrichment for Chimps

[stunthard]

I'm doing this research internship at my local zoo working with great apes, and I develop enrichment activities for gorillas, orangs, and chimps. The orangs are probably the smartest of all the great apes, but chimps exhibit more humanlike personalities and characteristics, which makes them easier to cross-apply.

I play games with them, groom them/let them groom me, and let them paint, but I want to come up with something that uses technology to challenge them, but at the same time, apply instinctive skills that they already have (tool making/use, foraging, etc). Maybe an arduino based fishing game that rewards them with a treat when they complete the task.

I'm prolly in the wrong place for scholarly discourse, but NT is very diverse, so I figured I'd give it a shot.

Any ideas?

 

[goldenchild9]

Not a primatologist but that sounds like the coolest internship ever.

 

[stunthard]

Originally Posted by goldenchild9

Not a primatologist but that sounds like the coolest internship ever.

it is, but I really cant talk to too many people about it, because either they are caught up in the whole "I didnt come from no monkey" mess, or they just don't get it.

here's a link to my dropbox folder if you wanna check out some videos of me stepping on one of the adolescent chimp's fingers and toes. they get a kick out of it for some reason, still don't know why.

 

[curt2121]

I never realized zoos did this type of research. What region are you in? Odds are you're somewhere around a major research university with a primate research lab with people who have tons of experience that would be useful to talk to and you could try to coordinate with them/bounce ideas around. More of this happens than you probably realize because it has to be kept so quiet due to protesters and potential problems. I remember the Stanford primate lab was well underground and now the university I'm @ med school for has a facility that is pretty isolated with tons of gates/guards to keep people out. I'd imagine the zoo would have contact with some of these researchers and be able to get you going

 

[teamjordan79]

let em try something like an ipad

 

[firepower23]

You know full well there are no primatologists on NT ....you just wanted to show off that you have the greatest internship ever

 

However I do know that the Japanese are especially advanced in this field -there was a BBC documentary a few months back that showcased some of the recent research.

 

[potapinkco]

Check out Project NIM if you haven't already.  I think it's on Netflix.

 

[lobotomybeats]

That seriously sounds like the best internship ever.

This reminded me of a Karl Pilkington quote...

Ricky Gervais: Yeah, but man IS nature. Don't forget that we are...we're an animal. We're a brilliant ape. We're actually 98.6% genetically identical to a chimpanzee, Karl. Think of that. We only differ...on 1.4% of our genetic makeup.

Karl Pilkington: That...that must be the (nickname for butt)

 

[ricky409]

But I did come from monkeys,doe..

My advance? Child games ...

Card games with colors... or those little computer things for toddlers that teaches them that cows moo and dogs bark.

Mix in a little Sega Genesis or regular Nintendo and you could start them on simple forms of technology ...

Since it only has 3/2 buttons ...

Ya know?

 

[solarius49]

Originally Posted by ricky409

But I did come from monkeys,doe..

My advance? Child games ...

Card games with colors... or those little computer things for toddlers that teaches them that cows moo and dogs bark.

Mix in a little Sega Genesis or regular Nintendo and you could start them on simple forms of technology ...

Since it only has 3/2 buttons ...

Ya know?

Street Fighter 2 with a chimp....while blazing!Sounds like the plot to Grandma's Boy 2!

 

[ricky409]

Originally Posted by solarius49

Street Fighter 2 with a chimp....while blazing!Sounds like the plot to Grandma's Boy 2!


*adds to bucket list*

 

[stunthard]

Originally Posted by curt2121

I never realized zoos did this type of research. What region are you in? Odds are you're somewhere around a major research university with a primate research lab with people who have tons of experience that would be useful to talk to and you could try to coordinate with them/bounce ideas around. More of this happens than you probably realize because it has to be kept so quiet due to protesters and potential problems. I remember the Stanford primate lab was well underground and now the university I'm @ med school for has a facility that is pretty isolated with tons of gates/guards to keep people out. I'd imagine the zoo would have contact with some of these researchers and be able to get you going

I'm at the Little Rock Zoo (in Arkansas), and it's not "research", in a lab sense. We're not supposed to teach them any human behaviors, because it promotes antisocial chimp behavior. The former pet chimp in the videos cannot go out with the rest of the troop because the alpha doesn't accept him, due to him not being able to pick up on social cues or reconcile after fights. Sometimes it's hard because he wants to do stuff like play hide and seek, I have to ignore it. I have to design stuff that promotes instinctive behavior, like tool making/use, foraging, etc.

So no iPads, video games, anything electronic, unless it's exploiting natural behaviors to get intrinsic data. What I'm working on now is olfactory memory, and whether color holds any correlation with scent memory in primates. Basically, I'm putting 6 different essential oils on old shirts, all of them the same color except for one. I put them in random places throughout the enclosure, and see which ones they gravitate towards, and record the level of interest, time, and other stuff. The least preferred gets pulled out the next time, and replaced with a different scent, but the bright color shirt is always citrus scent.

So far, what I've determined is Tea Tree Oil is like catnip for orangutans. They try to bathe with it. I haven't figured out if this is due to the scent, or the antiseptic properties of tea tree oil. It may be an instinctive drive, or just really good scent memory.

I'm having problems finding free journals and scholarly articles, even at my school. All the good ones cost like 50 bucks online, and i'm not paying any more for knowledge than I already am.

 

[elcatfisho]

What about using NFC enabled devices with TecTile stickers? You could perhaps train the chimps to recognize and develop patterns to "unlock" certain rewards by understanding that certain TecTiles in a segmented arrangement will have different outcomes.Its a rather abstract idea but I have been interested in NFC technology applications.

 

[moderndarwin]

I'm a little confused; scratches head like an ape.....you are teaching these Great Apes to act more like...Great Apes? What am I not getting here. Wouldn't just getting a nice big high def TV in there (protected by glass) and playing a movie about apes living in the wild show them what they should be doing the best?

I have all sorts of ideas; I teach little kids all day but you have to be way more specific. Are you going to be working with one chimp at a time, or are you looking for activities to try and get them all to practice the behavior together? The easiest way would be to have them ALL learn how to do something simple. Such as; instead of feeding them at their set time take them all out and hide the food in boxes with a latch. Lol, or just let them watch the new Planet of the Apes. They'll know what to do real quick lol.
Additionally, not to hate on your Google skills but I typed in enrichment games for chimpanzees and the results were pretty deep.  The best link (and top links) were:

Australia Asian Zoo

and

NIH Grants

 

[servechilled81]

 

[htxmade]

let them play Temple Run

 

[stunthard]

Originally Posted by ModernDarwin

I'm a little confused; scratches head like an ape.....you are teaching these Great Apes to act more like...Great Apes? What am I not getting here. Wouldn't just getting a nice big high def TV in there (protected by glass) and playing a movie about apes living in the wild show them what they should be doing the best?



I have all sorts of ideas; I teach little kids all day but you have to be way more specific. Are you going to be working with one chimp at a time, or are you looking for activities to try and get them all to practice the behavior together? The easiest way would be to have them ALL learn how to do something simple. Such as; instead of feeding them at their set time take them all out and hide the food in boxes with a latch. Lol, or just let them watch the new Planet of the Apes. They'll know what to do real quick lol.
Additionally, not to hate on your Google skills but I typed in enrichment games for chimpanzees and the results were pretty deep.  The best link (and top links) were:

Australia Asian Zoo

and

NIH Grants

i know, i was clear is mud in my description, let me clarify.

since what they do best is use tools to obtain food and resources, i wanted to do something like an arduino based puzzle feeder, like the ones they have to fish stuff out through a maze with, only, I want it to become increasingly diffucult with every success. If i could have the puzzle rearrange whenever they get it right, I could offer increasingly appealing treats to have to fish out. that would keep them busy for an indefinite amount of time, and have data already quantified through the arduino.

Those sites you recommended are awesome, and we do much of that stuff on a daily, it's just that i want to do something nobody has done before, and use technology to increase their quality of life.