%0 Journal Article %A Boesch, Christophe %+ Chimpanzees, Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society %T Mothers, environment, and ontogeny affect cognition : %G eng %U https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0006-DD6A-B %R 10.26451/abc.07.03.13.2020 %D 2020 %* Review method: peer-reviewed %X The book “Folk Physics for Apes” remains a fascinating book about the way one captive peer-group of
chimpanzees understand the world in which they grew. However, the very special living conditions these seven
individuals faced prevent any generalizations to the species level. Moreover, numerous recent studies have
revolutionized our understanding of brain development and cognitive abilities in documenting much higher brain
plasticity and important variations in the level of cognitive abilities in many species, including humans.
Environmental enrichment and physical practice can lead to impressive improvements in the performance of many
different cognitive abilities during the lifetime and these changes are observed within relative short periods of time
and proportional to the environmental improvements or the level of physical practices. This much higher plasticity
of cognitive abilities requires a new way of thinking in comparative cognitive studies incorporating a multiconditions multi-populations perspective before reaching conclusions that could be generalized to the species level.
In that sense, “Folk Physics for Apes” is only one of the many pieces needed before we can draw conclusions about
potential differences between chimpanzees and humans.
%K Chimpanzee; Cognition; Mother; Environment; Ontogeny %J Animal Behavior and Cognition %V 7 %N 3 %& 474 %P 474 - 489 %I American Psychological Association %@ 2372-5052