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Related Experiment Videos

Naïve Chicks Prefer Hollow Objects.

Elisabetta Versace1, Jana Schill1,2, Andrea Maria Nencini1

  • 1Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy.

Plos One
|November 17, 2016
PubMed
Summary

Chicks show an innate attraction to hollow objects, not learned preferences. This early predisposition for hollow stimuli may be driven by factors other than perceived animacy.

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Area of Science:

  • * Developmental psychology
  • * Ethology
  • * Comparative cognition

Background:

  • * Neonates exhibit predispositions for social stimuli like faces and motion.
  • * Filled vs. hollow properties are potential animacy cues, but their learned vs. innate basis is unclear.
  • * Domestic fowl chicks (Gallus gallus) serve as a model for studying innate preferences.

Purpose of the Study:

  • * To investigate if the filled vs. hollow property elicits spontaneous or learned preferences in chicks.
  • * To determine the role of experience (imprinting) in shaping preferences for hollow stimuli.
  • * To identify the specific visual cues (e.g., depth, contrast) driving attraction to hollow objects.

Main Methods:

  • * Testing preferences of naive and imprinted domestic fowl chicks for hollow and filled cylinders.
  • * Conducting experiments with imprinting on filled, hollow, and occluded stimuli.
  • * Analyzing attraction based on depth cues, hiding potential, and contrast.

Main Results:

  • * Chicks demonstrated an unlearned attraction to hollow stimuli.
  • * Imprinting on filled stimuli reduced preference for hollow ones, but imprinting on hollow stimuli did not increase preference.
  • * Preference for hollow stimuli re-emerged after imprinting on occluded objects, indicating imprinting does not override innate preference.
  • * Attraction to hollow objects was primarily linked to depth cues (darker innards) rather than hiding or contrast.

Conclusions:

  • * Chicks possess a predisposed attraction to hollow objects.
  • * This innate preference is not solely driven by animacy cues.
  • * Early predispositions in neonates may be influenced by factors beyond social animacy.

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