A Level Psychology at Spalding Grammar School

On the subject of bonobo apes, I found an interview with Sue Savage-Rumbaugh describing her work with Kanzi and the other chimpanzees. I was really struck by her reply when the interviewer asked her if it was true that the chimps like to watch telly. She replied:

"...Their lives are so confined. They can expand their world by watching television."

Wow! My mum always told me TV would rot my brain. But I guess, if Mother Nature intended you to roam wild in the jungle, then even the 50 acre wooded park where the apes live must feel pretty confining. So... what TV do chimps watch, exactly?

"They like the home videos we make about events happening to people they know from around the lab..."

That figures. Even my daughter's dog shares an interest in that sort of thing.

"... They like suspenseful stories, with an interesting resolution."

Hmmm. That's getting creepier. So they go for "Diagnosis Murder" or "C.S.I. Miami" do they? Do they figure out the murderer before Inspector Lynley does? Or do chimps prefer sado-horror, like "Saw" or "Hostel"? Just what exactly is Sue showing these poor creatures?

"... Of movies we buy, they really like films about human beings trying to relate to some kind of ape-like creatures. So they like 'Tarzan,' 'Iceman', 'Quest for Fire', the Clint Eastwood movies
with the orangutan..."

Now that's getting crazy. They like "Every Which Way But Loose"??? That would put apes at about the same level of cultural development as the 1970s! And is Clyde the Orangutan the hero of the film, from an ape viewpoint? Do they watch "2001 A Space Odyssey" and think the opening scene is great but it all goes downhill when the action moves to outer space? Just where exactly do their loyalties lie in "King Kong"? These are questions that need to be answered!!!

So, if that's the sort of movies chimpanzees like, what sort of music do they listen to? I'm putting together a Kanzi Playlist for my iPod. Obviously, there are the obvious choices:

• Anything by Gorillaz, the Monkees, the Superfurryanimals, Simian Mobile Disco
• Anything off Unfinished Monkey Business by Ian Brown
• Apeman by the Kinks
• This Monkey's Gone To Heaven by the Pixies
• Shock The Monkey by Peter Gabriel
• Brass Monkey by the Beastie Boys
• Tweeter & the Monkey Man by the Travelling Wilburys
• Funky Gibbon by the Goodies
• and of course... Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me & My Monkey by the Beatles
  
• Heard It Through the Ape Vine... sorry, couldn't resist

Any other ape-related music for Kanzi's playlist is much appreciated!