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Investigating Object Representations in the Macaque Dorsal Visual Stream Using Single-unit Recordings
Published on: August 1, 2018
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Chimpanzee gaze following in an object-choice task.
J Call1, B A Hare, M Tomasello
1School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, L69 3BX, Liverpool, UK, jcall@liverpool.ac.uk.
Animal Cognition
|January 9, 2014
Summary
Chimpanzees follow human gaze to find food but avoid using it when the human cannot see the reward. This suggests complex social cognition beyond simple orientation.
Area of Science:
- Primate cognition
- Comparative psychology
- Animal behavior
Background:
- Primates, including chimpanzees, demonstrate gaze following to conspecifics and humans.
- The extent to which chimpanzees utilize gaze cues in object-choice tasks for foraging remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether chimpanzees use human gaze direction to locate hidden food in an object-choice task.
- To differentiate between potential explanations for gaze-following behavior in chimpanzees.
Main Methods:
- Six adult female chimpanzees participated in experiments involving gaze-following tasks.
- Object-choice tasks utilized three types of occluders: barriers, tubes (transparent), and bowls (opaque).
Main Results:
- Chimpanzees successfully used human gaze cues to select containers (tubes, barriers) with visible food.
- Gaze following was not employed when choosing between opaque bowls, irrespective of food presence.
Conclusions:
- Findings challenge explanations based solely on simple orientation or a "seeing-knowing" understanding.
- Results suggest a nuanced form of gaze following, potentially integrating orientation with foraging drives or a rudimentary understanding of visual perception.
