Afarensis is a 3.5-2.8 million year old hominin from the Kada Hadar member of the Hadar formation in the Middle Awash, Ethiopia. He is approximately 41 inches tall, weighs approximately 60 pounds and has a cranial capacity of a whopping 410 cc (approximately). Afarensis is currently considered to be transitional between apes and humans and displays some traits of both. Since he spends a lot of time on the couch watching monster movies, some observers question whether he is an obligate biped (although no one has observed him climbing a tree). He also has a blog called 
Duane asks a really good question. In discussing the video below he says:
Do you see a process for the continuance of rituals among Homo sapiens in this little experiment? I do. Please notice that I didn't ask about the origin of rituals. That's another question. I do think this experiment also puts question of the value of ritual on the table: value for the learning and enculturation of young, considerable; value for adult activity, little or none.
Watch the video again:
Another way of looking at it is that the experiment answers the question "Who are you going to believe me, or your lying eyes?"
In the first part of the experiment a child is presented with a box and the process whereby the child can obtain a treat are demonstrated. Then the child gets a turn. After successfully repeating the process the child gets a treat. Then the box is replaced by a structurally identical box - the main difference being that the new box is transparent. The process for gaining the treat is demonstrated again. During the process it can clearly be seen that all but the last step are unnecessary. Will the child believe the evidence of her senses or the fib? Unfortunately, evidence lost. Which, certainly explains all those polls about creationism.
On a lighter note, I like how the experiment played to the chimpanzees strength (think termite fishing)...
Humanities & Social Science
Comments
I remember reading andblogging about this experiment. It's cool to see it in video.
Posted by: The Science Pundit | March 20, 2009 9:53 PM
I actually saw a version of this experiment presented at a seminar last week. Why does the child copy when it is clear it is pointless? The speaker's explanation was that humans are prone to following authorities, whereas chimpanzees, (and I must note that it is slightly inconsistent to compare a human child to an adult (or adolescent)chimpanzee), act according towards personal gratification.
The child in this video is presented with task by a foreign person with authority who shoews her what to do while being filmed. If the experiment had concluded with the anthropologist stepping out of the room, leaving the child alone with the box, I can almost guarantee that she would NOT have gone through the elaborate sequence - she would have gone straight for the candy.
This is an interesting experiment, but rather poorly constructed from a psychological viewpoint. Not testing for the way that the context influences the test subject is a cardinal sin in science. However, it does show that humans are prone to delay their gratification in order to please others and receive appreciation. Mirror neurons anyone?
Posted by: ArchAsa | March 21, 2009 7:05 AM
perhaps its also important to consider that for the humans, the reward is a social one, not only the praise from victoria horner, but the sticker is symbolic of an achievement worthy of social praise...and to 'take the shortcut' might be to betray victoria and 'the puzzle' of her boxes(especially after she had just shown the child the 'how' of doing it), possibly upsetting her, which might be counter-intuitive for any child looking to be rewarded in the experiment...
whereas the chimp's reward isnt social, its strickly personal, a food reward, where it clearly makes sense for any organism to cut out all of the 'extra' work and just get to the food already...
im not saying that the experiment doesnt show that humans learn patterns from other humans, but i am saying that i dont see both sides of the equation as equal, possibly skewing the results...
Posted by: teajae | March 21, 2009 7:10 AM
Slightly poor test for the chimp as well. What does he do when presented with the black box twice?
Posted by: John | March 21, 2009 8:06 AM
My first reaction was that this characteristic probably stands behind the human propensity for ritual.
My next was that the ability to assume that whoever is doing the process knows more than you do may be essential to learning how to create advanced technology such as knapped flint. Basically, the novice may think she sees all the relevant factors, but there may be hidden causes at work that make the apparently useless motions essential.
The most important point, IMO, is that only 2/3 of the chimps tested actually took the visible short-cut. This suggests that even chimps/bonobos have the capacity to learn sophisticated techniques.
What I'd really like to see is an experiment with a transparent box but hidden motion sensors on the tap plate that make the apparently useless motions essential. How would the chimps that skipped those motions react when their efforts failed? Would they keep trying or try using the whole procedure?
Posted by: AK | March 21, 2009 10:49 AM
I agree with teajae - I think this is a clear case of social reward expectation among humans. The child obviously wants to please the grown-up. As I said above, if left alone with the box the child would almost certainly not have gone through the whole sequence.
Posted by: ArchAsa | March 21, 2009 12:01 PM
I do too, it would be interesting to see the experiment performed without the grownup being present...
Posted by: afarensis, FCD | March 21, 2009 2:42 PM
i dont think simply removing the adult from the experiment will completely correct this method...i believe its not so much that the grown-up is present, but what the grown-up represents...
what i think the grown-up represents is an authority figure to which the child must appeal...and if you could somehow undermine that meaning to the child of "please do as i did", and place a greater emphasis on "just solve it as fast as you can", thereby changing the reward, i believe you will find that these children will be solving this second box a lot faster...
Posted by: teajae | March 21, 2009 6:32 PM