Anthropoid researchIn 1914, Wolfgang Köhler became director of the Prussian Anthropological Research Station on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, the first primate laboratory to specialize in behavioral research. It had financial support from the Prussian Academy of Sciences. He began studies of chimpanzees, though he lacked experience in animal research.. He had arrived in Dec 1913 to take up a one year the appointment after Eugen Teuber. Eight months later WW I began. As a German, he was isolated on the Spanish island because the area was patrolled by the British Navy protecting shipping lanes. He remained until the station was closed in 1920. His famous work focussed on showing that chimpanzees had intelligence to act with insight, not just blind trial and error, and manipulated implements with a purpose.« |
