"What starts as imaginary friends and playing pretend develops into an ability, over time, to step out of reality. To daydream and plan a summer vacation. To invent a new recipe. To put oneself in another's shoes. It's long been thought that this ability to imagine is unique to humans. But now, a series of sterile tea parties with a remarkable ape named Kanzi suggests some of our closest ancestors may have the ability too."
"The subject of the study was Kanzi, arguably the world's most famous bonobo an endangered species of ape that's a smaller cousin to chimpanzees. Raised in captivity, Kanzi had an amazing ability to communicate with humans using symbols and a broad understanding of the English language. (He died last year at the age of 44.) When asked questions, Kanzi could answer."
Imagination and make-believe are described as foundational human abilities that develop from pretend play into planning, perspective-taking, and creativity. A controlled experiment using sterile tea parties tested whether apes can engage in pretend play. The subject, Kanzi the bonobo, had extensive experience communicating with humans via symbols and could respond to questions by pointing. Kanzi’s behavior during the experiments indicated engagement in make-believe. The findings suggest the roots of imaginative capacity existed in the common ancestors of humans and great apes around 6 to 9 million years ago and imply more complex mental lives among apes than previously assumed.
Read at www.npr.org
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