In this
article, it is explained how Japanese scientists observed the abilities of a
chimp’s memory. Ayuki, who seems like just another chimp was able to click the numbers
one to nine in the correct order as they appeared on a computer screen in
random places for but a split second, after which they transformed into white
squares.
The head scientist, Tetsuro Matsuzawa has said that so far, no human has topped the chimp. However, Matsuzawa also proposed that it was possible that human beings lost their extreme memory abilities as they learned languages and learned to reason. David Eagleman of Baylor college has talked about a brain condition called “synesthesia,” which when the brain relates colors with certain figures, for example letter and numbers. Another scientist, Nicholas Humphrey also proposed that if the monkey did actually perceive the numbers in colors, when the squares appeared the color would have an after-affect. In addition, Nocholas has said that if the chimp does remember the numbers by colors, it has nothing to do with Ayuki’s memory capabilities. Humphrey challenges the experiment by saying that if the colors of the squares were to be different, then Ayuki would instantly be thrown off.
I thought that this article was very well written, since it included the opinions of many different scientists, it had thorough explanations to why things are as they are and last but not least, the article was not one-sided and had explained all theories very well. Even though scientists have talked about theories that the colors helped the chimp memorize the order of numbers, I think it would be just as easy for Ayuki to recognize the digits as they appeared on the screen. All in all, I found this research very interesting.
Laura Sanders July 28th, 2012; Vol.182 #2 (p. 9)
Link to video: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/341509/title/Color_this_chimp_amazing#video
Link to article:
10 comments:
I thought Max did a good job of presenting the overall point of the article. He presented the experiment the chimps did where they had to decipher numbers. He explained this is enough detail to make it clear to the reader what the articles was about even if they had no background knowledge in the field. Max also did a good job of expressing the results of the data collected. The chimps were able to figure out the numbers in order, and that was seen as a big accomplishment because the memory of a chimp was said to be better than that of humans. Lastly, Max gave good support for why he liked this article. He explained how the article had many points of view that allowed the reader to decide which reason was most rational. A lot of times, people don’t back up their reasoning, and I think Max well-articulated his thoughts on the topic.
I think Max could have explained the different scientists points of view better. I was not too sure what the different opinions were, so I got a little lost in the experiment. If he had chosen a few scientists and clearly stated each of their points of view, the article would have made more sense. Also, I think Max could have further explained the part about chimps having a better memory than humans. In my mind, that doesn’t make too much sense when it is not backed up by evidence.
I really liked learning about this experiment. I thought it was a really interesting experiment which had many different opinions to it. This made the outcome result in further questions that scientists will be able to figure out in later experiments. I thought it was a very intriguing topic.
-Gabriela Diaz
I thought Max did a good job of presenting the overall point of the article. He presented the experiment the chimps did where they had to decipher numbers. He explained this is enough detail to make it clear to the reader what the articles was about even if they had no background knowledge in the field. Max also did a good job of expressing the results of the data collected. The chimps were able to figure out the numbers in order, and that was seen as a big accomplishment because the memory of a chimp was said to be better than that of humans. Lastly, Max gave good support for why he liked this article. He explained how the article had many points of view that allowed the reader to decide which reason was most rational. A lot of times, people don’t back up their reasoning, and I think Max well-articulated his thoughts on the topic.
I think Max could have explained the different scientists points of view better. I was not too sure what the different opinions were, so I got a little lost in the experiment. If he had chosen a few scientists and clearly stated each of their points of view, the article would have made more sense. Also, I think Max could have further explained the part about chimps having a better memory than humans. In my mind, that doesn’t make too much sense when it is not backed up by evidence.
I really liked learning about this experiment. I thought it was a really interesting experiment which had many different opinions to it. This made the outcome result in further questions that scientists will be able to figure out in later experiments. I thought it was a very intriguing topic.
- Gabriela Diaz
I thought Max did a good job of presenting the overall point of the article. He presented the experiment the chimps did where they had to decipher numbers. He explained this is enough detail to make it clear to the reader what the articles was about even if they had no background knowledge in the field. Max also did a good job of expressing the results of the data collected. The chimps were able to figure out the numbers in order, and that was seen as a big accomplishment because the memory of a chimp was said to be better than that of humans. Lastly, Max gave good support for why he liked this article. He explained how the article had many points of view that allowed the reader to decide which reason was most rational. A lot of times, people don’t back up their reasoning, and I think Max well-articulated his thoughts on the topic.
I think Max could have explained the different scientists points of view better. I was not too sure what the different opinions were, so I got a little lost in the experiment. If he had chosen a few scientists and clearly stated each of their points of view, the article would have made more sense. Also, I think Max could have further explained the part about chimps having a better memory than humans. In my mind, that doesn’t make too much sense when it is not backed up by evidence.
I really liked learning about this experiment. I thought it was a really interesting experiment which had many different opinions to it. This made the outcome result in further questions that scientists will be able to figure out in later experiments. I thought it was a very intriguing topic.
-Gabriela Diaz
One of the things that max did well with this project was pick an interesting topic. Out of all the article’s I have read so far, this was the most interesting for me. I also like how he explained the tests the monkeys were able to complete, and than said why they can do that. Max also did a good job in keeping the article easy to understand. Brian function can be a very hard topic to understand, but after reading this summary I can say that I understand this area.
One thing that Max lacked was that he didn’t give a why to the science. He never really explained how this discovery can help us. I was also confused with the concept of “synesthesia”.
One thing that really interested me was that these apes can complete the number tests faster than humans. It just makes you wonder how smart these animals really are.
First of all, I found this article particularly very interesting. The fact that chimps can memorize the sequence in which the numbers are placed in a specific order is very interesting. Not to mention the number of perspectives from different scientist gives me various view points on the subjects of remembrance and brain condition called “synesthesia.” We, humans, can lose the ability to remember things as we learn new things?! I didn’t know that. I guess that is true, because when I remember things, I intake all the information that was given to me but then I push out all the old ones that were stored into my brain. But since chimps can’t really speak a language, I can see why they are really good at remembering things such as order of sequence. After I watch the video, I was blown away by how fast the chimp can touch the numbers in order. I was very impress by the chimp not only did he touched the number in the sequence but he did it faster than an ordinary human. I think Max did a great job introducing the article, because he gave a quick summary of what the article was going to be about. Couple things I thought that it would of helped us understand the messages of the articles are giving more detail facts and experiments on the chimps. A little more information on the topic of “synesthesia,” would’ve helped as well, because if we would know more details about “synesthesia” we would be able to figure out why we have it inside of us. Everything else in this article was very interesting and I was impressed by the chimp’s remembrance of sequences. Like what Max said, all in all, the article prove nothing less than fascination.
First of all, I found this article particularly very interesting. The fact that chimps can memorize the sequence in which the numbers are placed in a specific order is very interesting. Not to mention the number of perspectives from different scientist gives me various view points on the subjects of remembrance and brain condition called “synesthesia.” We, humans, can lose the ability to remember things as we learn new things?! I didn’t know that. I guess that is true, because when I remember things, I intake all the information that was given to me but then I push out all the old ones that were stored into my brain. But since chimps can’t really speak a language, I can see why they are really good at remembering things such as order of sequence. After I watch the video, I was blown away by how fast the chimp can touch the numbers in order. I was very impress by the chimp not only did he touched the number in the sequence but he did it faster than an ordinary human. I think Max did a great job introducing the article, because he gave a quick summary of what the article was going to be about. Couple things I thought that it would of helped us understand the messages of the articles are giving more detail facts and experiments on the chimps. A little more information on the topic of “synesthesia,” would’ve helped as well, because if we would know more details about “synesthesia” we would be able to figure out why we have it inside of us. Everything else in this article was very interesting and I was impressed by the chimp’s remembrance of sequences. Like what Max said, all in all, the article prove nothing less than fascination.
I found this article to be very well written and it touched on some very interesting facts about the monkey’s memory. It explained some very interesting facts about how the monkey is able to memorize the digits on a computer screen. The article states that the monkey might have a better memory than a human does and therefore has faster reflexes and can do things much faster than a human. A second thing that Max did very well was choose a very interesting topic. Among all the article topics I found this to be the most interesting and most enjoyable to read. Lastly, Max did a very a nice job on showing all the different points of view of scientist and their perspective on how the monkey is able to do this.
Two things Max could have done differently was explain the background knowledge of why and how the chimp is able to this and how they were able to get the chimp to cooperate for the experiment. I would also like to know how this was discovered and why the scientists had the idea to test it.
I really enjoyed reading about this experiment and found it interesting to view all the different scientist’s opinions as to why the chimp can do what he can do. I hope scientist will go into more depth with this experiment and test other things on the chimp and or on other animals.
-Jordan Sears
I thought Max did a really good job reviewing the article “Color This Chimp Amazing”. In his review, he included a lot of information about the chimp’s ability to remember the numbers in order after they were covered by white squares. Additionally, he does a good job explaining the controversy surrounding the chimp and the ability to memorize so quickly. The theory that the chimp could see the numbers as colors then remember them as an after affect was interesting. Max included good information from the article, and also was able to draw from that information and apply it to the world. I thought that his analysis of the information was good. He didn’t clutter the review with over-explanations either.
Although these were several positive components to his review, there were a few things that I thought were missing from his article. He did not explain whether or not the scientists were doing more tests on chimps or humans regarding this subject, and I am interested to find out more, especially since he states that the article “explains why things are,” yet he doesn’t relate these reasons back to us. He doesn’t explain whether or not the scientists will keep testing based on the “synesthesia” theory. I also think that he could improve the summary by adding information about the methods they used to develop this research and why they started it in the first place.
I learned a lot from reading Max’s article, and found it very interesting. I am astounded that the monkey can memorize the numbers so quickly, and tap them in order with only one mistake in the entire video. It is a great and interesting article.
First thing I would like to say is the article is interesting itself. Alchemy, the medieval forerunner of chemistry, based on myths such as turning iron into gold is bought up in modern day society. Whoever thought that in the 20th century alchemy would be brought up into public itself? The article stated that, sure, you can’t make iron into gold but you can make iron into platinum. That extremely fascinating already, because look: our resources are running out in this world. Many items such as platinum itself are a rare abundance throughout the world. If we are able to create platinum through cheaper materials, then we can advance through technology faster. If more scarce materials are brought in through alchemy, maybe we wouldn’t have to work as hard to find the materials. Since we are talking about alchemy, couldn’t we use useless objects to make it into something worth value? If that is possible then I would say all our needs to create valuable expensive would no longer be a hard thing to do. I have to agree with what gabby is saying, because as I said, it is true that natural abundance are running out. Sooner or later, the resource will no longer be available to us. If we can find new ways to create materials then maybe we wouldn’t need to worry about recycling anymore. One less annoying activity to do in our daily lives. This innovative article can spark various researches and believe me, alchemy is innovative itself. If the article can give more data results or test and trial experiments, we can define a broader meaning of alchemy and understand it more, so we can use alchemy for our advantages later in the future. Overall, good job Gabby for bring us this article.
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