Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
What Can We Learn From Monkeys Playing Video Games?
Japanese researchers have studied how monkeys play video games in hopes of learning something about human self-awareness. Yeah, for real.
The researchers, Takaaki Kaneko and Masaki Tomonaga, used a test designed for schizophrenic patients in order to determine whether or not chimpanzees are aware of their control over their own actions. This was tested by having the chimps use a trackball to hit on-screen targets with a cursor.
"At the beginning of training, we had no idea how to train chimpanzees to use this device," Kaneko says. "Sometimes, we lay completely down on the floor to make the chimpanzees pay attention to the trackball."
Once they got the kinks ironed out, the chimps did pretty well. You can read more about the results over at Game Politics, but ultimately it boils down to this: The crude video game demonstrated that chimpanzees have a similar perception of self-agency to humans. As long as the next step isn't turning monkeys into trained war machines like in The Lawnmower Man, I'm fine with those results.
(Source: Game Politics)
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
