Baboons can learn to spot real words

 Finally KITE comes up. He pauses and hits a green oval to show it is a word. In the space of just a few seconds, Dan has demonstrated a mastery of what some experts say is a form of pre-reading and walks away rewarded with a treat of dried wheat. Dan is part of new research that shows baboons are able to pick up the first step in reading -- identifying recurring patterns and determining which four-letter combinations are words and which are just gobbledygook. The study shows that reading’s early steps are far more instinctive than scientists first thought and it also indicates that non-human primates may be smarter than we give them credit for. ”They’ve got the hang of this thing,” said Jonathan Grainger, a French scientist and lead author of the research.