Amalia Bastos
Cognitive scientist at the University of St. Andrews specializing in animal cognition and imagination, and co-author of the study about Kanzi the bonobo's pretend play.
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Feb 13, 2026 • 13min
What A Tea Party With A Bonobo Taught Us About Imagination
Amalia Bastos, cognitive scientist at the University of St. Andrews who studies animal imagination, talks about experiments with Kanzi the bonobo. She recounts how researchers adapted child pretend-play tests into a tea-party task. They explain controls to rule out cueing and consider whether other apes or species might imagine. Personal reflections on Kanzi and what this means for ideas of human uniqueness are woven through the conversation.
