Obviously important is the evident change in the animal’s attention on April 20.  He watched with a keenness of interest which betokened a dawning idea.  Before he had succeeded in stacking the boxes, I had written in my note-book, “He seemed much interested today, in my placing of the boxes.”  Interesting, and important also, is the ease and efficiency with which he met the situation time after time, after this first success.  “Trial and error” had no obvious part in the development of the really essential features of the behavior.  The ape had the idea and upon it depended for guidance.

Except for the fact that Julius was immature, probably under five years of age, it is likely that he would have stacked the boxes spontaneously instead of by suggestion from the experimenter or imitatively.

No unprejudiced psychologist would be likely to interpret the activities of the orang utan in the box-stacking experiment as other than imaginal or ideational.  He went directly, and in the most business-like way from point to point, from method to method, trying in turn and more or less persistently or repeatedly, almost all of the possible ways of obtaining the coveted food.  The fact that he did not happen upon the only certain road to success is surprising indeed in view of the many ineffective methods which he used.  It seemed almost as though he avoided the easy method.

It is especially important, in connection with these results, to point out the risk of misinterpretation of observations on the anthropoid apes.  If they can imitate human activities as readily and effectively as Julius did in this particular experiment, we can never be sure of the spontaneity of their ideational behavior unless we definitely know that they have had no opportunity to see human beings perform similar acts.

Of all the methods of eliciting ideational or allied forms of behavior used in my study of the monkeys and ape, none yielded such illuminating results as the box stacking test, and although from the technical standpoint, it has many shortcomings, as a means to qualitative results it has proved invaluable.

Other Methods of Obtaining the Reward

Some weeks later, I tried to discover how Julius would obtain the much desired banana when the boxes were absent.  I placed in the large cage a stick about six feet long and an old broom.  When admitted, he looked about for the boxes, but not seeing them, picked up the broom and placing it with the splints down, beneath the banana, he tried to climb it, but as it fell over with him, he abandoned this after a few trials, went to his cage, and picking up some old bags which he used at night as covers, he dragged them out and placed them on the floor beneath the banana.  He next put the broom upon them and tried to climb up.  This general type of behavior persisted for several minutes, everything within reach being used as were the bags, as a means of raising him in the desired direction.  Finally, he placed his feet on the broom where the handle joins the splints, seized the handle near the top with his hands, drew himself up as far as possible, and then launched himself in the air and tried to seize the banana.  On the third attempt he succeeded.