Understanding Animal Behavior

Understanding Animal Behavior

Studying How Animals Act and Think

By monitoring behavior (and measuring hormones), zoo scientists help us better understand how animals engage the world around them.

Related Projects

  By observing apes such as gorilla Kwan as they interact with touch-screen computers, Fisher Center scientists can learn more about how these animals think.

Studying the Benefits of Play
Play is fun, but it must also confer some benefits to have endured over the years. By studying chimpanzees as they play, scientists hope to unlock why we all play.

  

Ape Touch-Screen Studies
By using touch-screen computers to monitor chimpanzees and gorillas as they sequence objects and react to the social cues embedded in a glance, zoo scientists can see how apes perceive the world around them.
By observing apes as they use tools, scientists can also understand how they learn and interact.

Ape Tool-Use Studies
By observing chimpanzees and gorillas as they use tools at Regenstein Center for African Apes, zoo scientists can better understand how apes learn and interact with one another.
Every day, zoo researchers use tablet computers to observe and record the activities of chimpanzees and gorillas living at Regenstein Center for African Apes.

Monitoring Ape Behavior
Every day, zoo researchers use tablet computers to observe and record the activities of chimpanzees and gorillas living at Regenstein Center for African Apes.
By having apes exchange tokens for treats, scientists can study responses to unequal treatment.

Token-Exchange Studies
By having gorillas and chimpanzees exchange tokens for treats, scientists can study responses to unequal treatment. The resulting behavioral economics insights can reveal ape perceptions of inequity.

The Mind of the Chimpanzee: Ecological and Experimental Perspectives
Featuring a foreword by Jane Goodall
Edited by Lincoln Park Zoo scientist Steve Ross, Ph.D., the Mind of the Chimpanzee features contributions from 30 of the world’s leading chimpanzee researchers. Exploring topics ranging from tool use to chimpanzee culture, this exciting scholarly volume collects the latest knowledge on our closest living relative.