Seeing we have a zoologist amonst us

JuliusCaesar

what do you think of the video going around of the chimp?
Same Q to any Comparative/Animal Psychologists who may may be here.

p.pete

:eek:
<edit>
shouldn't youtube have made me log in first for that kind of material?

Odysseus

I had to do an biological anthropology module as part of my BA, I hated it, but the one thing I remember was the sex life of bonobo [sp] chimps, they appear to engage in sex for its own pleasure as well as engaing in the missonary position and oral sex. Unusal viedo though!

steddyeddy

Well the thing to note there is that the animal is in captivity and knows it, masturbation is a lot more common in captivity in chimps than in the wild.

Chimps (indeed many animals) bound by captivity or restrictions due to social pressure often practice displacement activites ( im not sure what this is called in psychology) like eating, making nests or masturbating which have nothing to do with being hungry or horny ect but to release pent up energy in some other way.

I would say this is a example of that, using other animals for sexual release hasnt been observed in the wild but the use of leaves and sticks have seen to been used as sex toys or masturbation tools.

steddyeddy

On another note if you see a potentially dangerous animal doing something like displacment activity eg a dog eating nipping at grass or wood, or a chimp picking up food nibbling it and then putting it down, thats a sign to get away quick it often means they are agitated and cant decide wheter to attack or flee from you or any other percieved danger.

hotspur

steddyeddy wrote: »

On another note if you see a potentially dangerous animal doing something like displacment activity eg a dog eating nipping at grass or wood, or a chimp picking up food nibbling it and then putting it down, thats a sign to get away quick it often means they are agitated and cant decide wheter to attack or flee from you or any other percieved danger.

Should have told that to the frog.

This thread reminds me of one of my favourite books in the field of sociobiology - Sex, Evolution and Behaviour by Daly and Wilson:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sex-Evolution-Behaviour-Martin-Daly/dp/0871507676/

JuliusCaesar

Thanks Steddyeddy - long time since my Comp Psych!

steddyeddy

It might be up to you guys to recommend the right therapy for the frog

JuliusCaesar

LOL.
PTSD - but I think you need imagination to have it. No signs of imagination in frogs! (not to intrude on another forum's thread, but could imagination be the main difference between humans and other animals?)

joseywhales

I want to know how you would go about proving that a chimp(for example) doesn't have imagination. Actually first I'd like a definition of imagination.

Have you ever imagined a form or sound that you have not first experienced?

steddyeddy

joseywhales wrote: »

I want to know how you would go about proving that a chimp(for example) doesn't have imagination. Actually first I'd like a definition of imagination.

Have you ever imagined a form or sound that you have not first experienced?

Well Yes i would like to know what the definition of imagination is, chimps do draw in captivity the most the can manage in terms of replicating their surroundings is a circle. They also show some imaginative problem solving ie stacking boxs to reach a high bananna. Bonobos are known to express awe sometimes and gorillas who are taught sign langauge show some imagination when formulating words they are not taught.

A example would be when a gorilla using sign langauge tried to express the sign for a ring which it didnt know it used the signs for braclet and then finger, finger braclet!