Researchers in France and the United States have
recently reported that baboons are able to think
abstractly. It has been known for some time that
chimpanzees are capable of abstract thought, but
baboons are a more distant relation to mankind. In the
experiment, scientists trained two baboons to use a
personal computer and a joystick. The animals had to
match computer designs which were basically the same,
but had superficial differences. In the experiment the
baboons performed better than would be expected by
chance. The researchers describe their study in an article
in the Journal of Experimental Psychology.