Researchers have identified similarities in the thinking of humans and monkeys

Rhesus macaques and anubis baboons are able to compare two-dimensional shapes using not only external similarities, but also more general signs of shape. The results indicate that some of the foundations of geometric thinking could have been formed by a common ancestor of humans and other primates. This is stated in a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

The experiment involved eight adult monkeys — four Rhesus monkeys and four anubis baboons. Their results were compared with those of American preschoolers aged three to six years, adult representatives of the indigenous Tsimane people from Bolivia who had limited formal education experience, as well as adult residents of the United States.

Participants were first shown a sample geometric shape, such as a square. After that, they were asked to choose the appropriate figure from two options. The images to select were half the size of the sample, so it was impossible to complete the task only in size or number of pixels. In one part of the experiment, the figures were also rotated. This made it possible to check whether the participants could recognize the shape after changing its position in space.

The monkeys performed tasks using touchscreens. They received a small food reward for the correct answer. The children were given stickers that could be exchanged for prizes, and the adults were informed whether their choice was correct.

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After the experiment, the scientists built several computer models. The first one took into account simple visual details — lines and borders of the image. The second described the general shape of the object. The third analyzed individual geometric properties, including the equality of sides and angles, symmetry and parallelism.

The decisions of both humans and monkeys were best explained by a combination of a holistic perception of form and more abstract geometric features. When working with rotated images, the monkeys' behavior was even more consistent with the model, which the authors conditionally called symbolic.

At the same time, we are not talking about the fact that animals mentally formulated rules like "a square has four equal sides." According to the researchers, a significant part of the result can be explained by the ability to recognize an object regardless of its orientation. The best indicators were demonstrated by adults. Preschoolers and monkeys were more likely to make mistakes and spend more time making choices, but the strategies they used partially coincided.

The data obtained indicate a quantitative rather than a qualitative difference between the geometric thinking of humans and other primates. In other words, a person uses some common perception mechanisms much better, rather than having a completely separate shape recognition system.

However, the study does not prove that monkeys understand formal geometry. Human mathematical thinking also includes language, evidence, recursive reasoning, learning, and knowledge transfer within culture. The authors studied only the ability to compare two-dimensional shapes based on their visual and geometric properties.

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