#1 Monkeys Can Be Taught To Recognize Themselves In Mirrors
Humans and the great apes have the innate ability to recognize themselves in mirrorsa trait that only a few other animals share. Monkeys are supposed to be incapable of this form of self-recognition.
#2 Monkeys And Humans Perceive Faces Similarly
Both people and monkeys process faces holistically, and the fact that both species possess a counterpart to the Thatcher illusion, if verified, demonstrates the similar ways both brains evolved to recognize facial features
#3 Monkeys May Possess Powers Of Recollection Similar To Our Own
Remembering a childhood memory when a photograph of one is put in front of you is called "recognition." Being able to draw or describe that memory when no image is present to prompt you is called "recall," a more sophisticated process. A 2011 study published in Current Biology demonstrated that, like humans, monkeys also possess the capacity for both kinds of memory, and that it works in ways more similar than previously thought.
#4 Monkeys May Possess Levels Of Peripheral Perception Similar To Our Own
Most humans possess the ability to sometimes perceive and process stimuli before our conscious brains do. This peripheral vision allows us to sidestep obstacles and avoid dangers before we are even aware of them.Monkeys also possess peripheral perception.
#5 Monkeys May Make Some ‘Irrational’ Choices The Same Way We Do
Monkeys preferred food of high value over the same food paired with a positive, but lower value, foodjust like humans. Under the right conditions, the monkeys will tend to develop these choices into an "affect heuristic," causing them to make the ongoing irrational choice of preferring less food.
#6 Monkeys And Humans Can Make Other Decisions In Similar Ways
In 2014, researchers at New York University and Stanford University made headway in tracking the underlying processes involved in decision-making and how both humans and monkeys change their minds.
#7 Monkeys Share Many Of Our Economic Biases
It's been known that the social primates have some comprehension of markets, and that they even share some of the same economic biases. For example, the author's previous work has shown that monkeys don't like to lose (loss-averse), are irrational about dealing with risk, and even prone to rationalizing decisionsjust like humans.
#8 Oxytocin Influences Social Skills And Bonding
By giving infant monkeys inhaled doses of oxytocin, researchers observed increased amounts of positive social behaviors, such as increased communicative gestures with the mother, and greater social interest.
#9 Regions Of Our Brains Once Thought To Be Unique Share Many Similarities With Monkeys
The January 2014 edition of the Cell Press journal, Neuron, published an article that revealed that structures within both human and monkey brains are more similar than previously thought.
#10 Monkey ‘Language’ Is More Sophisticated Than Previously Thought
Scientists are beginning to understand that language usage by monkeys is much more sophisticated than previously thought, and that some monkeys of the same species even have different "dialects" across geographical areas, much as humans do.
