Scientists from the UK, Germany, and the USA conducted a study that demonstrated that chimpanzees tend to attribute agency to other objects primarily based on their morphology.
During experiments in a virtual environment, it was found that chimpanzees reacted to opponents resembling monkeys, regardless of whether these opponents displayed movement. When a monkey-like opponent obstructed the subjects from receiving a reward, the chimpanzees exhibited active behavior: they approached the opponent, hit the monitor with their hands, and distorted their facial expressions.
Interestingly, the chimpanzees' reaction was selective: the animals hardly reacted to geometric shapes, such as a cube and a pyramid, even if these figures were moving.
The results of this study were officially published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.