Cognitive development in chimpanzee infants (Pan troglodytes)

The present investigation sought to describe cognitive development in infant chimpanzees. To this end, two infant chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) were assessed at four-week intervals, beginning at three months and continuing throughout the first year. Using materials suggested by Uzgiris and Hunt, the male and female infants were tested on, object permanence, means-ends relations, operational causality, and object relations. By way of a profile analysis, the sensorimotor abilities of the chimpanzee infants were compared to each other, and bore a striking similarity to published findings on human infants. Furthermore, as the early experiences of the chimpanzee more closcly approximated those of the human infant, the similarities became more apparent.