ABSTRACT
The objective investigation of primate behaviour is probably the most demanding branch of zoological study. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, monkeys and apes are so intelligent, their brains so advanced, their social organizations so intricate and variable, that the student of animal behaviour can easily become dazzled by the complexity of the scene. Secondly, monkeys and apes are so closely related to the human animal that the dangers of anthropomorphism are constantly present. Accidental 'humanizing' of primate activities can distort objectivity in a subtle but damaging way. Most primate behaviour research workers have, in fact, been drawn from the worlds of psychology and anthropology, and too little attention has been paid to detailed observation and motor pattern description. Observations in zoos and occasionally in the field were all heavily biased towards showing how startlingly complex and advanced were the social and other behavioural activities of simian relations.
