Final answer:
Monkeys and apes can learn new behaviors from each other through observation and imitation, which reflects their cognitive abilities and potential for social learning, underpinned by the mirror neuron system and indicative of a capacity for protolanguage.
Step-by-step explanation:
The fact that monkeys and apes can learn new behaviors from each other points to the significance of social learning and cognitive abilities in primates. Notably, research involving mirror neurons has provided insights into how primates, including monkeys and apes, can recognize and imitate actions performed by others. This mirroring behavior is considered a fundamental prerequisite for language development, demonstrating the capability for abstract thought and understanding of actions within a social context.
Furthermore, the studies with great apes such as chimpanzees and gorillas, where they were taught to use gestures or tokens, suggest that they possess the basic capacity for a protolanguage, which could imply some form of innate capacity for symbolic communication. Observational learning is also evident in primates, exemplified by experiments where chimpanzees learned more efficient methods simply by watching their peers.
Overall, the ability of primates to learn socially and engage in complex forms of communication like cognitive learning, as shown in the work of researchers like Wolfgang Köhler, strongly supports their high degree of neurological sophistication and the parallels with human development of cognition and social behavior.