As
humans, we are very good at switching our behaviours to fit the current situation.
If something that used to work stops working, we notice, adapt and try
something new. This ability to adapt is an important part of flexible thinking
and learning. Chimpanzees have already shown that they can do this, but can
they use this flexibility in lots of different situations, or does it only work
in very specific ones?
In
this project, we’re exploring how chimpanzees deal with changing rules, and
whether they can use what they’ve already learnt in a previous task to help
them solve a new problem. The chimpanzees play a simple game where they choose
between two objects to find a hidden treat. At first, the reward is always
under the same object. Once the chimp has learned this rule, we suddenly change
it with the treat switching to the other object. To succeed, the chimp must
notice the change and adjust their behaviour to gain the treat.
Sometimes
the correct answer is based on object location (e.g. always on the right-hand
side). Other times it is based on what the object looks like, such as its shape
and colour. Different chimpanzees complete a different set of games so we can
see if learning to adapt in one situation, helps them adapt quicker in another.
By
watching how quickly and easily the chimpanzees change their strategy, we can
find out whether flexible learning is a general skill they can apply across all
different problems or whether each new challenge requires starting from
scratch.
