Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Naturalistic Observations02:30

Naturalistic Observations

If you want to understand how behavior occurs, one of the best ways to gain information is to simply observe the behavior in its natural context. However, people might change their behavior in unexpected ways if they know they are being observed. How do researchers obtain accurate information when people tend to hide their natural behavior? As an example, imagine that your professor asks everyone in your class to raise their hand if they always wash their hands after using the restroom. Chances...
Perceptual Constancy01:12

Perceptual Constancy

Perceptual constancy is the ability to recognize that objects remain consistent and unchanged even when their appearance varies due to changes in sensory input. There are four main types of perceptual constancy: size constancy, shape constancy, color constancy, and brightness constancy.
Size constancy is the recognition that an object remains the same size, even when its image on the retina changes. For instance, a bus is perceived to be large enough to carry people, even if it looks tiny from...
Nonconscious Mimicry01:13

Nonconscious Mimicry

Nonconscious mimicry occurs when individuals alter their mannerisms to match the behaviors and expressions of those nearby, without intention.
Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development01:14

Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development

The sensorimotor stage, the initial phase of Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, spans the first two years of a child's life. During this period, infants actively engage with their surroundings, building cognitive awareness through direct interaction with the world. This interaction is primarily based on sensory perception and motor actions, allowing infants to gradually understand basic physical properties and predict how objects interact within their environment.
Exploration...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Patterns of late Holocene and historical extinctions on Madagascar.

Cambridge prisms. Extinction·2025
Same author

Landscape-level human disturbance results in loss and contraction of mammalian populations in tropical forests.

PLoS biology·2025
Same author

Why Didn't the Sifaka Cross the Road? Divergence of Propithecus edwardsi Gut Microbiomes Across Geographic Barriers in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar.

American journal of primatology·2025
Same author

<i>De Novo</i> Genome Assembly for an Endangered Lemur Using Portable Nanopore Sequencing in Rural Madagascar.

Ecology and evolution·2025
Same author

Metagenome-wide characterization of shared antimicrobial resistance genes in sympatric people and lemurs in rural Madagascar.

PeerJ·2024
Same author

Updated lemur species ranges in Madagascar's Corridor Forestier d'Ambositra Vondrozo (COFAV).

Folia primatologica; international journal of primatology·2024
Same journal

Rank and payoff biases influence subject choices in a foraging task among sanctuary chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).

Animal cognition·2026
Same journal

Buzzed but not elated? Effect of ethanol on cognitive judgement bias in honeybees.

Animal cognition·2026
Same journal

Dogs tuned to conspecific vocalizations: behavioral evidence for a voice processing preference.

Animal cognition·2026
Same journal

Variation in song structure does not predict associative learning performance in zebra finches (Taeniopygia castanotis) raised under controlled cultural conditions.

Animal cognition·2026
Same journal

Executive functioning in wild guppies: investigating the impact of a pharmaceutical pollutant.

Animal cognition·2026
Same journal

Performance of sheep and goats in a delay of gratification task.

Animal cognition·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 28, 2026

Design and Use of an Apparatus for Presenting Graspable Objects in 3D Workspace
09:11

Design and Use of an Apparatus for Presenting Graspable Objects in 3D Workspace

Published on: August 8, 2019

Object permanence in lemurs.

Anja M Deppe1, Patricia C Wright, William A Szelistowski

  • 1Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA. adeppe@ic.sunysb.edu

Animal Cognition
|October 22, 2008
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Lemurs demonstrate object permanence for visible items but struggle with invisible displacements, indicating a cognitive limit likely sufficient for their natural foraging behaviors.

More Related Videos

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization
05:35

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization

Published on: April 19, 2017

Non-aversive Animal Restraint Enabling Recording of Optomotor Reflex in Ground Squirrels
07:28

Non-aversive Animal Restraint Enabling Recording of Optomotor Reflex in Ground Squirrels

Published on: July 25, 2025

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 28, 2026

Design and Use of an Apparatus for Presenting Graspable Objects in 3D Workspace
09:11

Design and Use of an Apparatus for Presenting Graspable Objects in 3D Workspace

Published on: August 8, 2019

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization
05:35

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization

Published on: April 19, 2017

Non-aversive Animal Restraint Enabling Recording of Optomotor Reflex in Ground Squirrels
07:28

Non-aversive Animal Restraint Enabling Recording of Optomotor Reflex in Ground Squirrels

Published on: July 25, 2025

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive ethology
  • Primate behavior
  • Comparative psychology

Background:

  • Object permanence is crucial for animals navigating their environment.
  • Understanding primate cognition, particularly in lemurs, offers insights into evolutionary psychology.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the presence and extent of object permanence in four diurnal lemur species.
  • To assess lemur performance on standardized Piagetian object displacement tasks.

Main Methods:

  • Thirteen adult lemurs across four species (E. f. rufus, E. mongoz, L. catta, H. griseus) were tested.
  • Standard visible and invisible object displacement tests were employed, including variations with time delays and unique hiding places.
  • Performance was evaluated against chance levels for each task.

Main Results:

  • Lemurs successfully located objects in all visible displacement tests.
  • Performance on visible displacements decreased significantly with time delays exceeding 25 seconds.
  • Lemurs did not exceed chance performance on any invisible displacement tasks, indicating Stage 5b as the upper limit.
  • No improvement was observed with visually unique hiding places in invisible displacement tests.

Conclusions:

  • Lemurs exhibit limited object permanence, reaching Stage 5b, particularly evident in visible displacement tasks.
  • The observed cognitive abilities appear sufficient for their ecological niche, characterized by stationary food sources and lack of stalking predators.
  • Further research could explore variations in cognitive tasks across different lemur taxa and ecological pressures.