Ape Research Index (ARI)

The aim of the Ape Research Index (ARI) Project is to assess the effect of participation in research experiments on captive ape cognition and behaviour. We are especially interested in how experience effects may influence the conclusions we draw from studies that test captive apes. At the moment we are focusing on captive chimpanzees, but in the future our aim is to extend to wild chimpanzees and other captive and wild primates. 

The ARI project is divided into two main objectives. 

ARI Database

We are working on creating a database that includes details of experiments conducted with captive chimpanzees, worldwide, between 1950 and 2024. This database will include information on the experimental set-up and the participants tested in each study, therefore creating a research history for all extant captive chimpanzees (see FAQ for more details). We are still hard at work completing the database. In the meanwhile, you can check out the list of facilities that we have reviewed in the 'Facility list' tab. Once the database is complete, we will make it open access, and will upload the link to the database and instructions on how to use it, and add to it, here. 

Targeted testing

To create targeted data on the effect of research history on chimpanzee performance and cognition, we will test chimpanzees with differing levels of research history with the same, novel, task battery across domains. This type of predictive testing will allow us to directly investigate the effect of previous research experience on performance in novel tasks.