Reaching into Thought The Minds of the Great Apes [Paperback]

This book investigates current field and theoretical information on great ape cognition.Reaching Into Thought investigates the qualities that set the intelligence of chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans apart from that of other nonhuman primates and humans. In this fascinating book, Great Apes' high level abilities in both social and ecological contexts are investigated, showing that these species are capable of self-awareness, deception, imitation, consolation, teaching and proto-culture itself. As Great Apes can now be shown to think at symbolic levels traditionally thought to be uniquely human,this work challenges views on how human intelligence itself arose.Reaching Into Thought investigates the qualities that set the intelligence of chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans apart from that of other nonhuman primates and humans. In this fascinating book, Great Apes' high level abilities in both social and ecological contexts are investigated, showing that these species are capable of self-awareness, deception, imitation, consolation, teaching and proto-culture itself. As Great Apes can now be shown to think at symbolic levels traditionally thought to be uniquely human,this work challenges views on how human intelligence itself arose.In this book, field and laboratory researchers show that the Great Apes are capable of thinking at symbolic levels, traditionally considered uniquely human. They show these high-level abilities in both social and ecological domains, including tool use, imitation, pretense, self-awareness, deception, consolation, teaching and proto-culture itself. Here, contributors emphasize the mechanisms involved in building these abilities--especially the lengthy developmental and enculturation processes--suggesting changes to current views on how primate and human intelligence have evolved. Researchers and professionals in the fields of primatology, animal behavior, anthropology, linguistics, and cognitive psychology will find ló