Using a set of math equations, described by game theory, it is easy to predict this pattern on paper. An ideal game, eventually, develops a certain pattern. In competitive games such as this, like in chess or poker, the players learn to guess their opponent’s moves based on the latter’s past choices, and adjust their own strategy at every step in order to win. The opponent’s choice was displayed after every selection, and payoffs in the form of apple cubes or money were dispensed to the winner. Player A, for instance, won, each time their choices matched, and player B won, if their choices did not. Each player simply had to choose between left and right squares on a touch-screen panel, while being blind to their rival’s choice. In the present study, chimp pairs or human pairs contested in a two-player video game. So the question arises whether competitive behavior is hard-wired in them. Chimps are aggressive and status-hungry within their hierarchical societies, knit around a dominant alpha male. Our behavior and personalities, molded to some extent by our distinct societies, are strikingly different from that of our fellow primates. Yet at some point, we evolved differently. Chimp and human DNAs overlap by a whopping 99 percent, which makes us closer to chimps than horses to zebras. In a recent study by psychologists Colin Camerer and Tetsuro Matsuzawa, chimps and humans played a strategy game – and unexpectedly, the chimps outplayed the humans.Ĭhimps are a scientist’s favorite model to understand human brain and behavior. What happens when, for just once, a chimp or a dog challenges man to one of their feats? Well, for one, a precarious face-off – like the one Matt Reeves conceived in the Planet of the Apes – would seem a tad less unlikely than we thought. But that’s not the upsetting realization. Sniffer dogs can detect the first signs of colon cancer by the scents of patients, while doctors flounder in early diagnosis. Animals also have a unique sense perception. Sea lions and elephants can remember faces from decades ago. Unlike an average human brain that can barely recall a vivid scene from the last hour, chimps have a photographic memory and can memorize patterns they see in the blink of an eye. Scientists have shown, time and again, that many animals have an extraordinary intellect. But what is smart? Is it just about having ideas, or being good at language and math? We amuse at a dog playing ball, a dolphin jumping rings, or a monkey imitating man because we think of these as remarkable acts for animals that, we presume, aren’t smart as us. We are the geniuses, the philosophers, the artists, the poets and savants. In a world with over 8.7 million species, only we have the ability to understand the inner workings of our body while also unraveling the mysteries of the universe. For example, someone may be able to continue to “see” a picture they have been shown for 30 seconds, even a few minutes after the picture is removed.We humans assume we are the smartest of all creations. Eidetic memory is the ability to vividly recall an image you are exposed to, but only briefly. The idea of an eidetic memory is similar to that of a photographic memory, but the two are not exactly the same. Results from one study suggest that people with HSAM are no better at acquiring memories – they are not superior learners – but are simply better at retaining memories. Doctors have yet to understand what exactly is happening in the brains of individuals with HSAM, and tests reveal there is no particular ability that appears to underpin the condition. Their memories are exceptional, but certainly not as perfect as actual photographs. For example, they may be able to tell you what they ate for lunch on (and that it was a Saturday). People with HSAM can recall past events in great detail, along with the exact dates when they occurred. Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM) is a condition that has been identified in fewer than 100 people worldwide. And some people do have better visual memory than others. Generally, we’re better at remembering what we’ve seen than what we’ve heard. Although many people claim that they have it, we still don’t have proof that it actually exists. Photographic memory is the ability to recall a past scene in detail with great accuracy – just like a photograph.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |