MI-73: Gestalt insight and planning

This clip revisits a classic problem in the psychological literature, and one that has also become famous in artificial intelligence circles as well. Today it is often called the monkey and the banana, though it really should be called the chimpanzee and the banana. The problem dates back to the work of Köhler who was banished to Tenerife island by the Nazis during World War II. The island had several chimpanzees as well as other animals, and Köhler, a German psychologist with time on his hands, decided to investigate the abilities of the animals he found there.

Köhler used a rope to suspend a banana high above the floor of a room. The room also contained several boxes. Sultan, one of the chimps on the island, was brought into the room. Sultan first tried to jump up and grab the banana, but it was too high for him to reach that way. Then he brought over one of the boxes, placed it beneath the banana, climbed up the box, and jumped up to grab the banana.

Köhler then ’upped the ante‚ by raising the next banana. Sultan had to stack one box on top of another to reach the tasty treat, which he did. Köhler believed that Sultan solved the problem through insight, which has a nearly literal meaning of “seeing within.” That is to say, Sultan, observing the boxes and the suspended banana, could visualize the solution to the problem.

Here the Hayes recreated this famous problem. Watch Viki and see whether you think she solved the problem insightfully or used a more pedestrian trial-and-error approach.