Ape Genius

Watch the Program

This one-hour program is divided into six chapters. Choose any chapter below and select QuickTime or Windows Media Player to begin viewing the video. If you experience difficulty viewing, it may be due to high demand. We regret this and suggest you try back at another time.

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Chapter 1
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Culture Club

A rush of discoveries about chimps, from tool use to what they do for fun, are painting a surprising new portrait of ape minds.
running time 9:05

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Chapter 2
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Copycats

Bonobos in the wild and chimps in captivity have been observed copying each other—and it's a lot harder than it looks.
running time 6:45

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Chapter 3
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Getting Along

Through experiments and observation, researchers discover that chimps can cooperate, but that teamwork comes easier for the more peace-loving bonobos.
running time 10:23

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Chapter 4
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Impulse Control

While some apes are capable of mastering words and numbers with great difficulty, it may be that impulse control is what prevents them from cooperating more fully.
running time 8:15

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Chapter 5
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Mind Reading

By age four most human children are accomplished mind readers, and new studies show that chimps share at least some of this talent.
running time 8:15

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Chapter 6
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Shared Goals

In children, a penchant for teaching appears even before language in the form of a deceptively simple gesture—pointing—a gesture that the other apes never use.
running time 6:46

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© | Created February 2008