Abstracts: 25th European Conference on Visual Perception
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Role of sensory cues on food searching behavior of a captive Manta birostris (Chondrichtyes, Mobulidae)
Abstract 10.1002/zoo.20189.abs This study reports on the first experimental research designed specifically for Manta birostris behavior. The authors attempted to learn about the feeding behavior and environmental cues influencing this behavior, as well as general cognitive ability. The preconditioned Manta’s ability to identify food, on the basis of a fraction of the ordinary food signal […]
Spatial memory and monitoring of hidden items through spatial displacements by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
This study examined chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) short-term memory for food location in near space. In Experiments 1 and 2, either 1 or 2 items (chocolate pieces) were hidden in an array of 3 or 5 containers that either remained stationary or were rotated 180° or 360°. When the array remained stationary, the chimpanzees remembered both […]
Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta) Categorize Unknown Conspecifics According to Their Dominance Relations
The authors trained 3 adult male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) to categorize pairs of unknown conspecifics presented in a video according to the dominance status of the videotaped monkeys. The subjects were trained to choose the dominant monkey for a category of films (e.g., films showing 1 monkey chasing another); then, new films were presented […]
Making inferences about the location of hidden food: Social dog, causal ape
Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) and great apes from the genus Pan were tested on a series of object choice tasks. In each task, the location of hidden food was indicated for subjects by some kind of communicative, behavioral, or physical cue. On the basis of differences in the ecologies of these 2 genera, as well […]
Nonenculturated Orangutans’ (Pongo pygmaeus) Use of Experimenter-Given Manual and Facial Cues in an Object-Choice Task
Several experiments have been performed, to examine whether nonhuman primates are able to make use of experimenter-given manual and facial (visual) cues to direct their attention to a baited object. Contrary to the performance of prosimians and monkeys, great apes repeatedly have shown task efficiency in experiments such as these. However, many great ape subjects […]
Recognizing Impossible Object Relations: Intuitions About Support in Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
Using looking-time measures, the authors examined untrained chimpanzees’ (Pan troglodytes) ability to distinguish between adequate and inadequate support. In 3 experiments, the chimpanzees’ sensitivity to different support relations between 2 objects was assessed. In each experiment, the chimpanzees saw a possible and an impossible test event, presented as digital video clips. Looking times in the […]
Stimulus control of predatory behavior by the Iberian wall lizard (Podarcis hispanica, Sauria, Lacertidae): Effects of familiarity with prey
The authors examine the relative roles of vision and chemoreception and the influence of previous experience with prey on the predatory behavior of Iberian wall lizards (Podarcis hispanica). Experiment 1 compared the responses to visual, chemical, and a combination of visual and chemical cues of a familiar prey by 2 groups of lizards that had […]
Object Permanence in Common Marmosets (Callithrix jacchus)
A series of 9 search tasks corresponding to the Piagetian Stages 3-6 of object permanence were administered to 11 common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus). Success rates varied strongly among tasks and marmosets, but the performances of most subjects were above chance level on the majority of tasks of visible and invisible displacements. Although up to 24 […]
Referential Understanding of Videos in Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus), and Children (Homo sapiens)
Performance on identical search tasks based on cues directly perceived or indirectly perceived through video were compared among a group of 4 adult chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), a group of 2 adult orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus), and a group of 36 children (between 2 and 3 years of age). Children comprehended directly perceived cues but had difficulty […]