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Scientists threw a tea party for apes and discovered they can use their imagination and play pretend
Kanzi, a 43-year-old bonobo, identified imaginary objects in over two-thirds of trials, providing first experimental evidence of pretend play in great apes, researchers said.
- On Thursday, the journal Science published results showing Kanzi, a bonobo, could imagine and track invisible juice being poured in a controlled experiment, providing first evidence of animal pretense.
- Researchers adapted childhood development tests into a tea-party task to test pretense, addressing skepticism over anecdotal observations of chimpanzees and bonobos in a make-believe setup.
- In the tests, Kanzi chose the correct cup 34 of 50 trials and pointed to real juice 14 of 18 trials across three experiments with 18-trial sessions.
- Christopher Krupenye and co-authors say the results imply Kanzi could hold imagined and real scenarios simultaneously, but his lexigram language training may limit generalizing findings to other apes.
- In the broader debate, researchers point to social cognition as a possible human differentiator, with some scientists unconvinced Kanzi's choices prove make-believe while others say apes share cognitive imagination, feeding debate over human uniqueness and social collaboration.
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The IndependentReposted by 
The Independent (US)
The Independent (US)Do apes have imagination? A tea party experiment offers clues
Scientists wondered whether Kanzi, the bonobo, had the capacity to play pretend
·London, United Kingdom
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New experiments confirm that these animals are able to play with non-existent objects just as children do. “In their minds, they can conceive things that do not exist,” experts say.
·Spain
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Total News Sources38
Leaning Left14Leaning Right3Center17Last UpdatedBias Distribution50% Center
Bias Distribution
- 50% of the sources are Center
50% Center
L 41%
C 50%
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