Imaginary Play in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Imaginary Play was studied in a group of five signing chimpanzees and it was found that chimpanzees engage in imaginary play similar to that found in human children. Fifteen hours of remote videotapes were analyzed for instances of imaginary play. Behaviors were defined as imaginary play by meeting a predetermined criteria which allowed them to be classified into one of six different categories of imaginary play. Six instances of imaginary play were found and these were classified into the two categories of Animation and Substitution. Observations of imaginary play in other research with chimpanzees were discussed.