Chimps practise self-control to tempt themselves away from food

Chimps struggling to accumulate a large quantity of food deliberately keep themselves busy to avoid the temptation to gorge themselves straight away, a new study by primatologists from Georgia State University in Atlanta has revealed.

London, Aug 22 : Chimps struggling to accumulate a large quantity of food deliberately keep themselves busy to avoid the temptation to gorge themselves straight away, a new study by primatologists from Georgia State University in Atlanta has revealed.

As part of the study, the scientists presented four chimps with a plastic container attached to a tube that gradually filled the container with candy.

Opening it, however, would cut off the flow of food.

The chimps were kept away from the candy machine but were allowed to observe it, so learning that the longer they waited, the bigger the treat they would get.

As studies of human children have shown that self-control doesn't come easily, even if promised that abstinence would be rewarded more than adequately later, scientists expected that the chimps would also show a good chance at resisting the candies if given a range of toys and other distractions to play with.

"We chose a set of items they are known to have an interest in. They enjoy brushing their teeth, for example; we gave them magazines so they could look at the pictures; and they enjoy different types of fasteners, zips and clips that they can take apart," said study co-author Theodore Evans.

Evans and his colleague Michael Beran found that the chimps resisted going for the accumulating candies for longer when given access to the toys, showing that play did indeed take their minds off food.

Findings further revealed that the chimps were more likely to play with the toys when the candies were accessible than when they were visible but behind a barrier.

This suggests that they actively chose to use the toys as a distraction, rather than simply playing for the fun of it, said Evans.

The findings appear in the journal Biology Letters, reports Nature.

ANI