Understanding visual access in common marmosets, Callithrix jacchus: perspective taking or behaviour reading?
We tested common marmosets’ understanding of visual access in a series of experiments. In experiment 1, we investigated whether marmosets know what conspecifics do and do not see, using a food competition paradigm originally developed for chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes. Subordinate marmosets consistently chose a piece of food only visible to them and not one that […]
Visual attention and its relation to knowledge states in chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes
Primates rely on visual attention to gather knowledge about their environment. The ability to recognize such knowledge-acquisition activity in another may demonstrate one aspect of Theory of Mind. Using a series of experiments in which chimpanzees were presented with a choice between an experimenter whose visual attention was available and another whose vision was occluded, […]
Influence of acute stress on spatial tasks in humans
Few studies have investigated the relationship between stress and spatial performance in humans. In this study, participants were exposed to an acute laboratory stressor (Star Mirror Tracing Task) or a control condition (watching a nature video) and then performed two spatial tasks. In the first task, participants navigated through a virtual reality (VR) environment and […]
The effect of empathy in proenvironmental attitudes and behaviors
Previous studies have pointed out the importance of empathy in improving attitudes toward stigmatized groups and toward the environment. In the present article, it is argued that environmental behaviors and attitudes can be improved using empathic perspective-taking for inducing empathy. Based on Batson’s Model of Altruism, it was predicted that higher levels of empathy would […]
Bonobos and chimpanzees infer the target of another’s attention
We examined the ability of bonobos, Pan paniscus (N ¼ 39), and chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes (N ¼ 74), to infer the target of an experimenter’s visual attention in a series of three experiments. In each experiment subjects were first introduced to a novel object while an experimenter’s (E1) visual access to this object was manipulated […]
Do African Grey Parrots (Psittacus erithacus) Know What a Human Experimenter Does and Does Not See?
Perspective-taking is a cognitive ability that can be useful to access information during social interactions. This ability is extensively exploited in humans, and some evidence of it has been found in other mammals and some bird species. Perspective-taking requires individuals to be sensitive to the attentional state of others. In this experiment, three hand-reared grey […]
The effect of body orientation on judgments of human visual attention in western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla)
The ability to appreciate the attentional states of others is an important element used in discerning the presence of Theory of Mind in an individual. Whether primates are able to recognize attention, and further, use such information to predict behavior, remains contentious. In this study, six western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) were tested under […]