ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we explore the possibility that chimpanzees do not point. In doing so, it may seem as if we are intentionally exposing ourselves to the ridicule of many comparative psychologists, who find it self-evident that they do. After all, there can be no doubt that chimpanzees engage in behaviors that surely resemble pointing. Figure 3.1 illustrates an example of such a gesture by Megan, a chimpanzee in our own laboratory. How, then, can we seriously entertain the idea that chimpanzees do not point?
