()6 



Why Living Things Behave As They Do unit v 





Fig. 277 This chimpanzee 

 has learned that he will get 

 food by pulling on the rope. 

 The food is placed in a car- 

 rier attached to the other 

 end of the rope. (dr. robert 



YERKES, YALE UNIVERSITY) 



In Other experiments carried on at 

 Yale University, chimps have shown an 

 astonishing abiUty to learn and reason. 

 Chimpanzees were taught to g^et their 

 own food at "chimpomats." They use 

 poker chips of different sizes and colors in 

 place of coins. They soon learn to distin- 

 guish between their different "coins" and 

 to hoard the more valuable ones. When 

 poker chips are distributed, even after 

 the chimpanzees have been well fed and 

 while not in sight of the chimpomat, 

 they will fight for the most valuable 

 "coins." It is clear that experiences are 

 stored and associations made. 



Tools that help in reasoning. You have 

 stored up an incredible number of ex- 

 periences in your memory, far more than 

 any other animal; you have a much 

 larger cerebrum. But you have another 

 advantage. Men have developed certain 

 tools which all other animals lack, tools 

 which aid them in getting experiences. 

 They have developed speech and writ- 



ing. Because of speech and writing you 

 can learn from others what you cannot 

 experience directly yourself; and you 

 can learn in minutes or hours what other- 

 wise would take years or a lifetime of ex- 

 perience to learn. Thus you can store 

 up countless experiences and draw on 

 them to help you reason. Therefore, 

 much of your behavior as you grow up 

 is of the kind which involves reasoning, 

 rather than trial and error. 



Behavior and emotions. In describing 

 the unlearned and learned responses of 

 man and certain other vertebrates we 

 have scarcely referred to one very impor- 

 tant part of behavior. You all know the 

 feelings of anger, joy, sorrow, amuse- 

 ment, hope, fear, surprise, love, and hate. 

 All of you have experienced these feel- 

 ings or emotions, although you may find 

 yourself unable to define any of them. 

 Emotions play a very large part in your 

 life. They determine a great many of 

 your responses. Some of them may pro- 



