Are you smarter than a chimpanzee? Don’t look yet, but below, the numbers 1-9 are printed in random position. Glance at the upper box for a second or two (I’m being generous – the chimpanzee needs only half a second) then cover it up and, moving down to the lower box (right at the bottom of this page), connect the squares in the correct ascending numerical order (starting, of course, with 1).
How did you get on? If you failed, then – like the humans in the original study – you have been beaten by a chimpanzee named Ayumu, from the Primate Research Institute at Kyoto University. Don’t despair though: a follow-up study found that, if given extensive training, humans can learn to – ahem – ape the performance of our primate cousins. King of the swingers!
You can watch an amazing film of Ayumu and friends below:
Psy-Q by Ben Ambridge is published by Profile Books at £8.99. To order a copy for £6.29, go to bookshop.theguardian.com
