From Scratching to Symbolism? Chimpanzee “Drawings” and the Origin of Symbolism

Reviews the book, Starting from scratch: The origin and development of expression, representation and symbolism in human and non-human primates by John Matthews (see record 2010-26046-000). In this book, the author sets out to document the behavior of chimpanzees that he argues might offer new insights into the origins of symbolism and representation in humans. Matthews, although well qualified to discuss how symbolic thought emerges in children, has little experience investigating the cognitive development of chimpanzees. Thus, it is difficult to view this book as a serious reference text because of the somewhat naïve manner in which the author asserts various things about chimpanzee behavior. In the final chapter of the book, Matthews hints that he might be wrong about all of what he has written, and he acknowledges his anthropomorphic approach. The reviewers wish that this had been the first chapter of the book because it would have better prepared the reader to exercise caution. Although the reviewers agree that in many species behavioral and perhaps cognitive development can grow out of a rich background of exploratory, investigative, and ludic activities that can extend to expression, representation, and symbolization (as in language studies), they do not believe that Matthews succeeds in convincing the reader that the root of this is patterns of movement in space and time. This book’s value, then, lies in the author’s ability to provide a starting point for provocative thinking about how expression, representation, and symbolism may have emerged in humans and nonhuman primates in relation to artistic development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)