French scientists have trained baboons recognize words

French scientists have found that baboons can learn to distinguish real words from a set of letters, according to a study published in the journal Science in Thursday, April 12.

During the tests, the monkeys were placed in front of a computer monitor and offers a variety of combinations, consisting of four characters. If it's just a set of letters, the primacy pressed the blue cross, if a real word - on the green oval. According to scientists, this is evidence that primates can be trained primary form of reading.

"They are still far from the actual reading. Monkeys do not understand what these words mean, "- said psychologist Jonathan Grainger.

However, as noted by scientists, by trial and error primates not only learned to recognize real words, but a combination of letters that form them. For example, they know that there is a syllable «SH», but no syllable «FX». Despite the fact that the study was conducted in France, the researchers used the English language, as it is universal.

In tests participated six primates, from 300 thousand challenges they meet every third. Star 4-year study baboon Dan gave correct answers to 80 percent of letter combinations.

According to Jonathan Grainger, primates can be trained to accurately recognize images and objects, and in the future maybe they will even be able to read.