I must do some research to if the story about the experiment is true.
It is TRUE according Cornell University
In the fall of 1958, a remarkable event happened on Koshima, which later came to be known as the “Hundredth Monkey Phenomenon.” An unspecified number of monkeys were washing their sweet potatoes. Let us assume that there were 99 monkeys already doing that and 1 additional monkey also developed this strategy in the usual way. All of a sudden, as if that one additional monkey pushed the strategy through some form of threshold and critical mass, almost all of the monkeys in the same troop were doing it. Moreover, this strategy transcended natural barriers and have suddenly appeared in other groups on other islands.
It is PARTLY TRUE according to Wikipedia:
The original Koshima research was undertaken by a team of scientists as a secondary consequence of 1948 research on semi-wild monkeys in Japan. The Koshima troop was identified as segregated from other monkeys and, from 1950, used as a closed study group to observe wild Japanese macaque behavior. While studying the group, the team would drop sweet potatoes and wheat on the beach and observe the troop's behavior. In 1954, a paper was published indicating the first observances of one monkey, Imo, washing her sweet potatoes in the water. Her changed behavior led to several feeding behavior changes over the course of the next few years, all of which was of great benefit in understanding the process of teaching and learning in animal behavior. A brief account of the behavioral changes can be seen below:
- The young first teach their contemporaries and immediate family, who all benefit from the new behavior and teach it to their contemporaries.
- If the parents or their contemporaries (or their parents) are too old, they do not adopt the behavior.
- Once the initial group have children, a change occurs in the dynamic of the behavior from teaching previous and current generations, to a new dynamic where the next generation learns by observation. The behavior is no longer actively taught but passively observed and mimicked.
- The first innovator continues to innovate. The young monkey who started potato washing also learned how to sift wheat grains out of the sand by throwing handfuls of sand and wheat into the water, then catching the wheat that floated to the top. This invention was also copied using the above teaching and learning process until there were too many monkeys on the island with too little wheat apportioned, which is when competition became too fierce and the stronger monkeys would steal the collected wheat from the weaker ones, so they stopped the learned behavior in self-preservation.
- The innovator’s sibling started another innovation whereas the monkeys were initially fearful of the ocean, only deigning to put their hands and feet into it, the wheat straining innovation led to monkeys submerging more of their bodies in the water, or play-splashing in the ocean. This behavior was again copied using the above teaching and learning processes.
The study does not indicate a catalyst ratio at which all the Koshima monkeys started washing sweet potatoes, or a correlation to other monkey studies where similar behavior started. To the contrary, it indicated that certain age groups in Koshima would not learn the behavior.
Related Sources
I must do some research to if the story about the experiment is true.
It is TRUE according Cornell University
In the fall of 1958, a remarkable event happened on Koshima, which later came to be known as the “Hundredth Monkey Phenomenon.” An unspecified number of monkeys were washing their sweet potatoes. Let us assume that there were 99 monkeys already doing that and 1 additional monkey also developed this strategy in the usual way. All of a sudden, as if that one additional monkey pushed the strategy through some form of threshold and critical mass, almost all of the monkeys in the same troop were doing it. Moreover, this strategy transcended natural barriers and have suddenly appeared in other groups on other islands.
It is PARTLY TRUE according to Wikipedia:
The original Koshima research was undertaken by a team of scientists as a secondary consequence of 1948 research on semi-wild monkeys in Japan. The Koshima troop was identified as segregated from other monkeys and, from 1950, used as a closed study group to observe wild Japanese macaque behavior. While studying the group, the team would drop sweet potatoes and wheat on the beach and observe the troop's behavior. In 1954, a paper was published indicating the first observances of one monkey, Imo, washing her sweet potatoes in the water. Her changed behavior led to several feeding behavior changes over the course of the next few years, all of which was of great benefit in understanding the process of teaching and learning in animal behavior. A brief account of the behavioral changes can be seen below:
- The young first teach their contemporaries and immediate family, who all benefit from the new behavior and teach it to their contemporaries.
- If the parents or their contemporaries (or their parents) are too old, they do not adopt the behavior.
- Once the initial group have children, a change occurs in the dynamic of the behavior from teaching previous and current generations, to a new dynamic where the next generation learns by observation. The behavior is no longer actively taught but passively observed and mimicked.
- The first innovator continues to innovate. The young monkey who started potato washing also learned how to sift wheat grains out of the sand by throwing handfuls of sand and wheat into the water, then catching the wheat that floated to the top. This invention was also copied using the above teaching and learning process until there were too many monkeys on the island with too little wheat apportioned, which is when competition became too fierce and the stronger monkeys would steal the collected wheat from the weaker ones, so they stopped the learned behavior in self-preservation.
- The innovator’s sibling started another innovation whereas the monkeys were initially fearful of the ocean, only deigning to put their hands and feet into it, the wheat straining innovation led to monkeys submerging more of their bodies in the water, or play-splashing in the ocean. This behavior was again copied using the above teaching and learning processes.
The study does not indicate a catalyst ratio at which all the Koshima monkeys started washing sweet potatoes, or a correlation to other monkey studies where similar behavior started. To the contrary, it indicated that certain age groups in Koshima would not learn the behavior.
Other Sources
I must do some research to if the story about the experiment is true.
It is TRUE according Cornell University
In the fall of 1958, a remarkable event happened on Koshima, which later came to be known as the “Hundredth Monkey Phenomenon.” An unspecified number of monkeys were washing their sweet potatoes. Let us assume that there were 99 monkeys already doing that and 1 additional monkey also developed this strategy in the usual way. All of a sudden, as if that one additional monkey pushed the strategy through some form of threshold and critical mass, almost all of the monkeys in the same troop were doing it. Moreover, this strategy transcended natural barriers and have suddenly appeared in other groups on other islands.
It is PARTLY TRUE according to Wikipedia:
The original Koshima research was undertaken by a team of scientists as a secondary consequence of 1948 research on semi-wild monkeys in Japan. The Koshima troop was identified as segregated from other monkeys and, from 1950, used as a closed study group to observe wild Japanese macaque behavior. While studying the group, the team would drop sweet potatoes and wheat on the beach and observe the troop's behavior. In 1954, a paper was published indicating the first observances of one monkey, Imo, washing her sweet potatoes in the water. Her changed behavior led to several feeding behavior changes over the course of the next few years, all of which was of great benefit in understanding the process of teaching and learning in animal behavior. A brief account of the behavioral changes can be seen below:
- The young first teach their contemporaries and immediate family, who all benefit from the new behavior and teach it to their contemporaries.
- If the parents or their contemporaries (or their parents) are too old, they do not adopt the behavior.
- Once the initial group have children, a change occurs in the dynamic of the behavior from teaching previous and current generations, to a new dynamic where the next generation learns by observation. The behavior is no longer actively taught but passively observed and mimicked.
- The first innovator continues to innovate. The young monkey who started potato washing also learned how to sift wheat grains out of the sand by throwing handfuls of sand and wheat into the water, then catching the wheat that floated to the top. This invention was also copied using the above teaching and learning process until there were too many monkeys on the island with too little wheat apportioned, which is when competition became too fierce and the stronger monkeys would steal the collected wheat from the weaker ones, so they stopped the learned behavior in self-preservation.
- The innovator’s sibling started another innovation whereas the monkeys were initially fearful of the ocean, only deigning to put their hands and feet into it, the wheat straining innovation led to monkeys submerging more of their bodies in the water, or play-splashing in the ocean. This behavior was again copied using the above teaching and learning processes.
The study does not indicate a catalyst ratio at which all the Koshima monkeys started washing sweet potatoes, or a correlation to other monkey studies where similar behavior started. To the contrary, it indicated that certain age groups in Koshima would not learn the behavior.
I must do some research to if the story about the experiment is true.
It is partly true according Cornell University
In the fall of 1958, a remarkable event happened on Koshima, which later came to be known as the “Hundredth Monkey Phenomenon.” An unspecified number of monkeys were washing their sweet potatoes. Let us assume that there were 99 monkeys already doing that and 1 additional monkey also developed this strategy in the usual way. All of a sudden, as if that one additional monkey pushed the strategy through some form of threshold and critical mass, almost all of the monkeys in the same troop were doing it. Moreover, this strategy transcended natural barriers and have suddenly appeared in other groups on other islands.
https://blogs.cornell.edu/info2040/2021/10/29/herding-experiment-hundredth-monkey-phenomenon/
It is partly true according to Wikipedia:
The original Koshima research was undertaken by a team of scientists as a secondary consequence of 1948 research on semi-wild monkeys in Japan. The Koshima troop was identified as segregated from other monkeys and, from 1950, used as a closed study group to observe wild Japanese macaque behavior. While studying the group, the team would drop sweet potatoes and wheat on the beach and observe the troop's behavior. In 1954, a paper was published indicating the first observances of one monkey, Imo, washing her sweet potatoes in the water. Her changed behavior led to several feeding behavior changes over the course of the next few years, all of which was of great benefit in understanding the process of teaching and learning in animal behavior. A brief account of the behavioral changes can be seen below:
- The young first teach their contemporaries and immediate family, who all benefit from the new behavior and teach it to their contemporaries.
- If the parents or their contemporaries (or their parents) are too old, they do not adopt the behavior.
- Once the initial group have children, a change occurs in the dynamic of the behavior from teaching previous and current generations, to a new dynamic where the next generation learns by observation. The behavior is no longer actively taught but passively observed and mimicked.
- The first innovator continues to innovate. The young monkey who started potato washing also learned how to sift wheat grains out of the sand by throwing handfuls of sand and wheat into the water, then catching the wheat that floated to the top. This invention was also copied using the above teaching and learning process until there were too many monkeys on the island with too little wheat apportioned, which is when competition became too fierce and the stronger monkeys would steal the collected wheat from the weaker ones, so they stopped the learned behavior in self-preservation.
- The innovator’s sibling started another innovation whereas the monkeys were initially fearful of the ocean, only deigning to put their hands and feet into it, the wheat straining innovation led to monkeys submerging more of their bodies in the water, or play-splashing in the ocean. This behavior was again copied using the above teaching and learning processes.
The study does not indicate a catalyst ratio at which all the Koshima monkeys started washing sweet potatoes, or a correlation to other monkey studies where similar behavior started. To the contrary, it indicated that certain age groups in Koshima would not learn the behavior.
I must do some research to if the story about the experiment is true.
It is partly true according Cornell University
In the fall of 1958, a remarkable event happened on Koshima, which later came to be known as the “Hundredth Monkey Phenomenon.” An unspecified number of monkeys were washing their sweet potatoes. Let us assume that there were 99 monkeys already doing that and 1 additional monkey also developed this strategy in the usual way. All of a sudden, as if that one additional monkey pushed the strategy through some form of threshold and critical mass, almost all of the monkeys in the same troop were doing it. Moreover, this strategy transcended natural barriers and have suddenly appeared in other groups on other islands.
It is partly true according to:
The original Koshima research was undertaken by a team of scientists as a secondary consequence of 1948 research on semi-wild monkeys in Japan. The Koshima troop was identified as segregated from other monkeys and, from 1950, used as a closed study group to observe wild Japanese macaque behavior. While studying the group, the team would drop sweet potatoes and wheat on the beach and observe the troop's behavior. In 1954, a paper was published indicating the first observances of one monkey, Imo, washing her sweet potatoes in the water. Her changed behavior led to several feeding behavior changes over the course of the next few years, all of which was of great benefit in understanding the process of teaching and learning in animal behavior. A brief account of the behavioral changes can be seen below:
- The young first teach their contemporaries and immediate family, who all benefit from the new behavior and teach it to their contemporaries.
- If the parents or their contemporaries (or their parents) are too old, they do not adopt the behavior.
- Once the initial group have children, a change occurs in the dynamic of the behavior from teaching previous and current generations, to a new dynamic where the next generation learns by observation. The behavior is no longer actively taught but passively observed and mimicked.
- The first innovator continues to innovate. The young monkey who started potato washing also learned how to sift wheat grains out of the sand by throwing handfuls of sand and wheat into the water, then catching the wheat that floated to the top. This invention was also copied using the above teaching and learning process until there were too many monkeys on the island with too little wheat apportioned, which is when competition became too fierce and the stronger monkeys would steal the collected wheat from the weaker ones, so they stopped the learned behavior in self-preservation.
- The innovator’s sibling started another innovation whereas the monkeys were initially fearful of the ocean, only deigning to put their hands and feet into it, the wheat straining innovation led to monkeys submerging more of their bodies in the water, or play-splashing in the ocean. This behavior was again copied using the above teaching and learning processes.
The study does not indicate a catalyst ratio at which all the Koshima monkeys started washing sweet potatoes, or a correlation to other monkey studies where similar behavior started. To the contrary, it indicated that certain age groups in Koshima would not learn the behavior.
I must do some research to if the story about the experiment is true.
It is partly true according to:
The original Koshima research was undertaken by a team of scientists as a secondary consequence of 1948 research on semi-wild monkeys in Japan. The Koshima troop was identified as segregated from other monkeys and, from 1950, used as a closed study group to observe wild Japanese macaque behavior. While studying the group, the team would drop sweet potatoes and wheat on the beach and observe the troop's behavior. In 1954, a paper was published indicating the first observances of one monkey, Imo, washing her sweet potatoes in the water. Her changed behavior led to several feeding behavior changes over the course of the next few years, all of which was of great benefit in understanding the process of teaching and learning in animal behavior. A brief account of the behavioral changes can be seen below:
- The young first teach their contemporaries and immediate family, who all benefit from the new behavior and teach it to their contemporaries.
- If the parents or their contemporaries (or their parents) are too old, they do not adopt the behavior.
- Once the initial group have children, a change occurs in the dynamic of the behavior from teaching previous and current generations, to a new dynamic where the next generation learns by observation. The behavior is no longer actively taught but passively observed and mimicked.
- The first innovator continues to innovate. The young monkey who started potato washing also learned how to sift wheat grains out of the sand by throwing handfuls of sand and wheat into the water, then catching the wheat that floated to the top. This invention was also copied using the above teaching and learning process until there were too many monkeys on the island with too little wheat apportioned, which is when competition became too fierce and the stronger monkeys would steal the collected wheat from the weaker ones, so they stopped the learned behavior in self-preservation.
- The innovator’s sibling started another innovation whereas the monkeys were initially fearful of the ocean, only deigning to put their hands and feet into it, the wheat straining innovation led to monkeys submerging more of their bodies in the water, or play-splashing in the ocean. This behavior was again copied using the above teaching and learning processes.
The study does not indicate a catalyst ratio at which all the Koshima monkeys started washing sweet potatoes, or a correlation to other monkey studies where similar behavior started. To the contrary, it indicated that certain age groups in Koshima would not learn the behavior.