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Monkeys and young children can get up to all sorts of mischief - and recent research suggests that may have far more in common than previously believed.

In a new study, scientists found that non-human primates share the same basic knowledge as a three-year-old child in their understanding of objects.

The researchers behind the study of capuchin monkeys, chimpanzees and bonobos say the results suggest that there is more to their world than meets the eye.

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The team tested different species on two variants of a simple problem: both involved a box containing two pieces of string – one broken and one unbroken - that connected to food

'We set out to find out how animals conceive the world around them,' said Dr Amanda Seed, a lecturer at the University of St Andrews.

'Do they have any idea that objects have abstract properties, like solidity and weight?

'Or do they rely on learning arbitrary relationships between what you see, what you do and what you get, in the same way that we learn to stop at a red light?'

The research, which involved a simple task using a piece of string, was a collaboration with scientists in Germany, Spain and Italy.

Clever monkey! Study shows primates' understanding of objects

In one variant, the box was covered, with another pair of strings placed on top, while the other task involved the box being open, with the functionality – of the string connecting to the food – completely visible

The team tested different species on two variants of a simple problem: both involved a box containing two pieces of string – one broken and one unbroken - that connected to food.

Only pulling the unbroken piece of string resulted in the reward of food.

In one variant, the box was covered, with another pair of strings placed on top, while the other task involved the box being open, with the functionality – of the string connecting to the food – completely visible.

CROWS ARE AS INTELLIGENT AS SEVEN-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN 

Crows have a reasoning ability rivalling that of a human seven-year-old

Crows have a reasoning ability rivalling that of a human seven-year-old, research has shown.

Scientists at the University of Auckland came to the conclusion after subjecting six wild New Caledonian crows to tests designed to challenge their understanding of cause and effect.

The tasks were all variations of the Aesop's fable in which a thirsty crow drops stones to raise the level of water in a pitcher. 

In the 'water displacement task', crows worked out how to catch floating food rewards by dropping heavy objects into water-filled tubes.

They demonstrated an ability to drop sinking rather than floating objects, solid rather than hollow objects, to choose a high water level tube over one with low water level, and a water-filled tube over one filled with sand.

The crows failed on two more difficult tasks, however. One test required understanding of the width of the tube and the other involved displacing water in a U-shaped tube.

Nevertheless, the birds' understanding of the effects of volume displacement matched that of human children aged between five and seven, claimed the scientists.

Both versions provided subjects with the same visual task: to avoid the broken white line and choose the unbroken one.

In the covered version, since the important part of the problem was covered up, the subjects had to use the visual pattern of the objects without being able to see their functional relevance.

Individuals of all species performed much better in the uncovered condition when the pattern 'made sense' - when they could see the connected line was a string connected to food - than when it was just a rule to be learned.

Scientists found that bonobos share the same knowledge as a three-year-old child in understanding of objects. 'This suggests that these species do have object knowledge and that there is more to their world than meets the eye,' said Dr Amanda Seed, a lecturer at the University of St Andrews

Researchers say the study shows that monkeys, apes and young children find it difficult to learn what to do with an object, unless they can see it in action.

'We set two tasks with the same outcome, both involved objects that could be seen, but in one the visible object caused the outcome and in the other it didn't,' Dr Seed said.

'We found that the monkeys and apes were only able to solve when they could see the object's function.

'Our research shows that learning arbitrary patterns is not actually that easy for primates, and even five-year-old children find it hard.

'In comparison: choosing a connected string in a functional context is easy. This suggests that these species do have object knowledge and that there is more to their world than meets the eye.'