Table 4.
Cognitive and consciousness-related capacities used as grounds for granting great apes special protections
| Capacity for | Mentions |
|---|---|
| Social interaction | 14 |
| Complex or sophisticated emotions | 13 |
| Rational thought | 12 |
| Intense suffering | 11 |
| Self-awareness | 11 |
| Post-traumatic disorders | 9 |
| Sophisticated, human-like capacities (unspecified) | 8 |
| Tool use | 7 |
| Gestural communication | 7 |
| Language acquisition | 6 |
| Culture development | 5 |
| Imitative learning | 5 |
| Symbolic representation | 4 |
| Abstract thought | 4 |
| Prospective thinking or planning | 3 |
| Working or episodic memory | 3 |
| Mind reading | 3 |
| Complex calculation | 2 |
| Social deprivation | 2 |
| Sense of humor | 2 |
| Sophisticated, human-like capacities in infancy | 2 |
| Personality development | 1 |
| Social cooperation | 1 |