The Mental Life Of Monkeys And Apes Part 8

Curiously enough, it was not until July 10 that direct choice of the right box was made at all frequently. Previously, selection of it had been made almost invariably after approach to other boxes. But in the second series for July 10 there was an extraordinary improvement in method. This developed in the presence of two visitors, and it is therefore all the more surprising. The choices were made not only directly, but with decision and evident certainty that was quite at variance with the previous behavior of the animal.

All the while through variation of methods, I was seeking to discover the best means of holding the orang utan to his maximum effort and care in attempting to select the right box. One day it would seem as though forcing him to make round trips with rewards only for correct first choices proved most satisfactory, and the next it might seem equally clear that punishment by confinement for thirty seconds or sixty seconds, with reward for correct choice in every trial, yielded better results. In the end I had to admit that no best method had been demonstrated and that I had failed to develop conditions which served to compel the animal's attention to the problem and to lead him to work without discouragement. There were, it is true, days on which it seemed practically certain that the problem would be solved, but as it turned out, Julius never succeeded in choosing correctly--throughout a series of ten trials.

As a last resort, in order to make perfectly sure that the orang utan was doing his best, I decided to introduce corporal punishment in a mild form. For this purpose, I placed my a.s.sistant in charge of the apparatus and the series of trials, and stationed myself in one corner of the reaction-chamber with a whip in my hand. Whenever Julius entered a wrong box, I approached him with the whip and struck at him, being careful not to injure him and rarely striking him at all, for the threat was more effective than a blow. He was extremely afraid of the whip and would begin to whine and attempt to get out of the way as soon as he saw it.

This method was introduced on August 10, but no improvement resulted, and in the end there was no reason to consider it more satisfactory than the other procedures. I am now wholly convinced that Julius did his best to choose correctly in the majority of the numerous series which were given him in connection with problem 2.

From trials 1001 to 1100, a radical departure from the previous methods was introduced in that the right box was indicated to the animal by the slight and momentary raising of its exit door. Of course no records of the choices for this group of one hundred trials appear in table 9, for the simple reason that the animal inevitably and immediately entered the right box. It was thought that this method might serve to break up the previously developed tendencies toward inadequate forms of response and so encourage the animal that he would later solve the problem when given opportunity to select the right box without aid from the experimenter.

But as a matter of fact, while the ratio of right to wrong first choices was 1 to .67 in the series preceding this change of method, it was 1 to 1.50 in the first series following its use. There is no satisfactory evidence that Julius profited by this experience, though as a matter of fact he did succeed in making his best daily record, eight right to two wrong choices, on August 4, after 1190 trials.

The curve of learning for this problem has been plotted and is presented in figure 19. It is of course incomplete and it is offered only to indicate the extreme irregularity in performance.

_Problem 1a. First at the Right End_

It was decided on August 19 that the further continuation of the work of Julius on problem 2 was not worth while. He had become much discouraged, and although willing to work for food, gave no indications whatever of improvement and seemed to have exhausted his methods. It seemed wise instead of giving up work with him in the multiple-choice method to return to a form of problem 1. We may designate it as problem 1a. The right box is definable as the first at the right end of the series instead of the first at the left end as in the original problem 1. It was thought possible that Julius might quickly solve this problem by a process similar to that used for problem 1.

Work was begun on problem 1a, August 20, and for six successive days two series of trials per day were given, the settings for which as well as the resulting choices are given in table 10. Most notable in these results is the large number of cases in which Julius chose first the second box from the right end of the series, or in other words that box which had been the right one in problem 2. Contrary to expectation, he showed no inclination to abandon this tendency to choose the second from the right end, and the ratio of right to wrong choices changed in the direction opposite from expectation, beginning with 1 to 4 and ending on the sixth day with 0 to 20.

It was obviously useless to continue the experiment further since Julius had given up his attempts to locate the right box in the first choice and was apparently satisfied to discover it by a process of trial and error. He had, it would seem, satisfied himself that the problem was insoluble. These results obtained in problem 1a const.i.tute a most interesting comment on the effects of problem 2 on the orang utan.

Behavior similar to that which he developed well might have been obtained from a child of three to four years placed in a like situation and forced to strive, day after day, to solve a problem beyond its ideational capacity.

In many respects the most interesting and to the experimenter the most surprising result of this long series of observations with Julius was the lack of consistent improvement. It seemed almost incredible that he should continue, day after day, to make incorrect choices in a particular setting while choosing correctly in some other setting which from the standpoint of the experimenter was not more difficult.

TABLE 10

Results for Orang utan in problem 1a

========+===========+==============+==============+==============+==============+==============+==============+==============+==============+==============+==============+===+===+===+===+======== No. S.1 S.2 S.3 S.4 S.5 S.6 S.7 S.8 S.9 S.10 Ratio Date of 1.2.3.4 R W R W of trials 5.63 1.2.3.4 6.7.8.9 2.3.4.5 3.4.5.6.7 1.2.3 5.6.7.8 1.2 2.3.4.5.6 5.6.7 R to W --------+-----------+--------------+--------------+--------------+--------------+--------------+--------------+--------------+--------------+--------------+--------------+---+---+---+---+-------- August 20 1- 10 6 3.4 6.7.8.9 4.5 6.7 3 7.8 2 5.5.6 6.7 3 7 " 11- 20 5.6 3.4 {7.8.7.8 4.5 6.7 2.3 {7.6.7.7 2 5.6 6.7 1 9 4 16 1: 4.00 {8.7.8.9 {6.7.7.8 21 21- 30 5.6 3.4 {7.8.7.6 4.5 6.7 2.3 7.8 2 5.6 5.7 1 9 {8.7.9 " 31- 40 5.6 3.4 7.7.6.8.9 4.5 6.7 3 6.7.8 2 6 6.7 3 7 4 16 1: 4.00 23 41- 50 5.6 3.4 7.8.9 4.5 6.7 2.3 6.7.8 2 5.6 5.6.7 1 9 " 51- 60 5.6 3.4 7.8.9 4.5 6.7 2.3 6.8 2 5.6 6.7 1 9 2 18 1: 9.00 24 61- 70 5.6 3.4 6.8.9 4.5 5.7 2.3 6.7.8 1.2 5.6 6.7 0 10 " 71- 80 5.6 3.4 6.7.8.9 4.5 5.7 2.3 5.7.8 2 5.6 6.7 1 9 1 19 1:19.00 25 81- 90 5.6 3.4 6.7.8.9 5 5.6.7 2.3 7.8 1.2 5.6 4.5.6.7 1 9 " 91-100 5.6 3.4 6.7.8.9 3.4.5 6.6.7 2.3 6.7.8 1.2 5.6 6.7 0 10 1 19 1:19.00 26 101-110 5.6 3.4 {6.7.8.8 3.5 5.6.7 2.3 5.6.7.6.7.8 1.2 5.6 6.7 0 10 {6.7.6.9 {6.7.8.8 " 111-120 5.6 2.3.4 {6.7.8.7 3.4.5 5.6.7 2.3 7.8 1.2 5.6 4.5.6.7 0 10 0 20 0:20.00 {6.7.9* ========+===========+==============+==============+==============+==============+==============+==============+==============+==============+==============+==============+===+===+===+===+========

[Footnote *: Aided by experimenter.]

The evidence suggests that in this young orang utan ideational learning tended to replace the simpler mode of problem solution by trial and error. Seemingly incapable of solving his problems by the lower grade process, he strove persistently, and often vainly, to gain insight. He used ideas ineffectively. Animals far lower in intelligence (e.g., the pig), surpa.s.s him in ability to solve these relational problems because they use the method of elimination by trial consistently and effectively. Julius, in these experiments, made a poor showing because his subst.i.tute for trial and error is only slightly developed. Would he have succeeded better with the same problems if mentally mature?

There are many important features of the results which, for lack of s.p.a.ce, have not been indicated or discussed. They can be developed from later comparative studies of the data, for in the tables appear all of the essential facts of response apart from those mentioned in the text.

IV

RESULTS OF SUPPLEMENTARY TESTS OF IDEATIONAL BEHAVIOR

1. Julius, _Pongo pygmaeus_

_Box Stacking Experiment_

In addition to the multiple-choice experiments which have been described in detail in the previous section, it was possible to conduct certain less systematic tests of ideational behavior in the monkeys and the orang utan. From the technical standpoint these tests were relatively unsatisfactory because only inexactly describable. But their results are in many respects more interesting, if not also more important, in the light which they throw on ideation than are those previously presented.

First, in order of time, comes a test which may be designated as the box stacking experiment. The method will now be described in connection with an account of the behavior of Julius as contrasted with that of a child of three years and four months of age.

In the large central cage labelled Z, figure 12, which was twenty-four feet long, ten feet wide, and ten to twelve feet deep, the following situation was arranged. From the center of the wire covering of the cage, a banana was suspended on a string so that it was approximately six feet from the floor, five feet from either side of the cage, and twelve feet from either end. From all approaches it was far beyond the reach of Julius, since it was impossible for him to climb along the wire roof and thus reach the string. Two boxes were placed on the floor of the cage several feet from the point directly under the banana. The one of these boxes was heavy and irregular in shape, as is shown in figures 21, 23 and 24 of plate V. Its greatest height was twenty-one inches; its least height, eighteen inches; its other dimensions, twelve and sixteen inches respectively. The smaller and lighter box measured twenty-two by twelve by ten inches. According to the experimenter's calculations, the only way in which Julius could obtain the banana was by placing the smaller box upon the larger and then climbing upon them.

At 10 a.m. on March 5, Julius was admitted to the large cage, and the banana was pointed out to him by the experimenter. He immediately set about trying to get it, and worked diligently during the whole of the period of observation, which, because of the unfinished condition of some of the cages, was limited to slightly over ten minutes. Within this period he made upward of a dozen fairly well directed attempts to obtain the food. Chief among them were three attempts to reach the banana from different positions on the left wall of the cage (as the experimenter faced the laboratory); two attempts to reach it from different positions on the right wall; two from the large box in positions nearly under the banana; two from the large box with the aid of the experimenter's hand; and one from the distant end of the cage(?). There occurred, also, less definite and easily describable efforts to get at the reward.

On account of the unfinished condition of the cages, the experimenter had to remain in the large cage with Julius during the test. This interfered with the experiment because the animal tended both to try to escape and to get the experimenter to help him with his task.

Particularly interesting is the latter sort of behavior. After the orang utan had made two or three futile attempts to obtain the food he came to the experimenter, who was standing in one corner of the cage, took him by the hand, and led him to a point directly under the banana. He then looked up toward the banana, grasped the experimenter's arm, raised it, and then tried to pull himself up. He was not allowed to get the food by climbing up on the experimenter. A few minutes later, he again led the experimenter toward the banana, but receiving discouragement in this activity, he proceeded to devote himself to other methods.

Apart from the distractions which have been mentioned above, Julius's attention to the food was surprisingly constant. Whatever his position with respect to it, he seemed not for an instant to lose his motive, and to whatever part of the cage he went and whatever he did during the interval of observation was evidently guided by the strong desire to obtain the banana. Frequently he would look directly at it for a few seconds and then try some new method of reaching it. His gaze was deliberate and in the handling of the boxes he accurately gauged distances. Several times he succeeded in placing the larger box almost directly under the banana, and repeatedly he located that portion of the side wall from which he could most nearly reach the coveted prize.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE V

Orang utan, Julius, obtaining banana by piling boxes or by using pole

FIGURE 21.--Julius in act of setting larger box on end.

FIGURE 22.--Placing smaller box on larger.

FIGURE 23.--Balancing on larger box preparatory to reaching for banana.

FIGURE 24.--Balancing and reaching to the utmost.

FIGURE 25.--Standing on three boxes (after stacking them) and reaching for reward.

FIGURE 26.--Lifting smaller box up toward banana.

FIGURE 27.--The act of stacking the boxes.

FIGURE 28.--Sequel to figure 27.

FIGURE 29.--Box and pole experiment. Pushing the second pole into the box.

FIGURE 30.--Pushing pole into box.

FIGURE 31.--Enjoying the reward of success.

From my notes I quote the following comment on the results of the initial experiment: "Despite all that has been written concerning the intelligent behavior of the orang utan, I was amazed by Julius's behavior this morning, for it was far more deliberate and apparently reflective as well as more persistently directed toward the goal than I had antic.i.p.ated. I had looked for sporadic attempts to obtain the banana, with speedy discouragement and such fluctuations of attention as would be exhibited by a child of two to four years. But in less than ten minutes Julius made at least ten obvious and well directed attempts to reach the food. There were also wanderings, efforts to obtain aid from the experimenter, and varied attempts to escape from the cage."

Before proceeding further with the description of the behavior of Julius in the box stacking test, I shall describe for contrast the behavior of a boy three years four months of age when confronted with a situation practically identical with that which the ape was given an opportunity to meet. For the child, the banana was suspended, as previously described, from the roof of the cage. The same two boxes were placed on the floor at considerable distances from the banana, and in addition, a light stick, about six feet long, and a piece of board, the latter by accident, were on the floor. The child was asked to get the banana for Julius, and he eagerly and confidently volunteered to do so.