Monkeys surprise scientists with engineering abilities similar to humans

23 July 2026 - 04:21 | Last update 23 July 2026 - 04:21

Follow Okaz channel on WhatsApp

"Okaz" (Jeddah)

A recent scientific study has revealed that the ability to perceive abstract properties of geometric shapes may not be exclusive to humans, after its results showed that some monkey species can recognize and handle shapes in a manner close to human thinking mechanisms.

The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), indicated that this ability may trace back to a common ancestor that predates modern humans by a long time.

The study included eight rhesus macaques and olive baboons, along with 21 preschool children and 100 adults, all subjected to the same cognitive task to compare their processing of geometric information.

The researchers designed a test based on shape matching; participants view a specific shape, then choose the matching shape from a set of shapes, even if its size or orientation changes, aiming to measure the ability to recognize geometric structure beyond superficial visual changes.

The research team explained that the task does not rely solely on vision but requires complex cognitive processes starting with analyzing the shape's boundaries and extracting its visual properties, then comparing them with new shapes considering differences in size or viewing angle, before deciding whether the shapes match.

The researchers used different reward methods to motivate participants; monkeys received snacks for correct answers, children received encouraging stickers, and adults received verbal praise.

The results showed that monkeys were able to recognize the same shapes after rotation or size change, indicating an understanding of basic geometric principles, not mere memorization of shapes or reliance on their appearance.

The lead researcher, cognitive neuroscientist at Carnegie Mellon University Jessica Cantlon, said the results support the idea that humans may not be unique in possessing basic geometric intuition as previously thought, and that this ability may be part of the shared cognitive heritage among primates.

For his part, professor of neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Earl Miller, who did not participate in the study, said that such studies reveal that a number of cognitive abilities considered unique to humans may be older and more widespread in the animal kingdom.

The researchers have begun a new phase of the study to identify the geometric shapes that pose the greatest challenge for humans and monkeys, in an attempt to understand the evolution of geometric cognition and the neural mechanisms behind this shared ability.