06/11/2025

What We Can Learn from Chimpanzees

Their development parallels human social and cognitive learning

Picture a baby chimp clinging to its mother's back, wide eyes taking in everything around it. Just like human babies, these little ones start life completely helpless, relying on their mom for everything. But what's fascinating is how they learn to become independent—it's remarkably similar to how we do it.

Young chimps are like tiny sponges, soaking up knowledge by watching everything their mothers and other chimps do. They'll sit for hours observing how to crack nuts with stones, how to fish for termites with twigs or the proper way to groom a friend. It's not so different from a toddler mimicking their parents' cooking or a child learning to tie their shoes by watching repeatedly.

The timeline feels familiar, too—that slow, gradual journey from helpless infant to capable adult, filled with trial and error, play and countless moments of "let me try that." Chimp youngsters spend years mastering the social rules of their group, learning who to approach and who to avoid, just like human children figuring out playground politics.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Psychology Today.