Chimpanzees and Orangutans

Years and years ago, I read an article in a magazine at the dentist (I can't recall if it was Psychology Today or People) about orangutans. One of the major themes of the article was how much more difficult it was to work with orangutans than chimpanzees, either in research or in circuses. The main difference seems to be that chimpanzees react in ways that make sense to logical positivists, and orangutans don't. Also, orangutans have odd senses of humor. In short, organgutans are a lot harder to manage, but they seem to be more fun.

For me, the clearest distinction between these apes is in the way they solve problems. Some researchers were engaging in one of those tedious behavioral modification experiments, where the subject was given a reward for doing the appropriate thing. In this case, the apes were given a board with a variety of different holes cut into it -- stars and diamonds and so forth -- and a set of blocks cut to fit the holes. It is very much like a game I played as a child in which the board would jump up at you if you failed to put all the pieces in in time (a game which accounts for my jumpy disposition). After the ape put a piece in, he or she would get some sort of ape treat.

The researcher said that chimpanzees were very cooperative subjects in this experiment. The chimp would pick up a piece, look at it, move it around, try it in various holes, and so forth. The chimp seemed to be solving the problem in a straightforward, empirical way. And most importantly, when the chimp was not interacting with the pieces, the chimp was off doing something else. So the researcher knew when to pay close attention, and when she could let her attention wander.

The orangutan was not so easy to monitor. The orangutan would scratch itself, then maybe look at the pieces, then look off in the distance, then look at the board, then groom a little, and at some point would simply pick up a piece and put it in the correct hole. The orangutans were not faster than the chimpanzees, but the method by which the orangutan solved the problem was not evident. And the researcher had to pay close attention all the time, as she never knew when the orangutan might act. In fact, in several cases, the researcher noticed the piece was in the hole without having seen the orangutan put it in the whole, which made positive reinforcement problematic.

I have a lot of empathy for the orangutans, and almost none for the chimpanzees. When I solve a problem, it is very rarely by methodically plugging away at it. I am more likely to read comics, chat with my officemate, play flash games, and so forth when I am stuck, and eventually a solution often comes to me. Or I get so bored that I try the plugging method.

Chimpanzees are much easier to manage.