One group of chimpanzees slurp termites directly from a stick; another group picks them off the stick one by one. one group of chimpanzees breaks nuts with a stone hammer; another group does this with a wooden hammer. these group differences in food-gathering practices best illustrate:

This illustrates the psychological concept of an algorithm. This is defined as a set of step-by-step procedures to obtain the correct answer to a particular problem. In the case of the chimpanzees, they have devised a process, utilising tools, that ensures they are able to exploit the two different food sources in the example. Sometimes, only one set of steps will allow the goal to be achieved, but in other cases, as this example illustrates, different paths can lead to the same solution.