Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) remember the location of a hidden food item after altering their orientation to a spatial array
Publication Type: |
Journal Article |
Year of Publication: |
2006 |
Authors: |
Megan L. Hoffman, Michael J. Beran |
Publication/Journal: |
Journal of Comparative Psychology |
Keywords: |
chimpanzees, memory, pan troglodytes, spatial memory, spatial orientation |
ISBN: |
1939-2087 0735-7036 |
Abstract:
Two chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) had a direct view of an experimenter placing a food item beneath
one of several cups within a horizontal spatial array. The chimpanzees then were required to move around
the spatial array, shifting their orientation to the array by 180°. Both chimpanzees remembered the
location of the food item. In the next experiment, a visual barrier was placed between the chimpanzees
and the spatial array after the food item had been hidden to prevent visual tracking of the location of the
object during the chimpanzees’ movement. One chimpanzee remembered the location of the hidden item
in this variation. These results demonstrate another capacity for spatial memory in this species that
complements data indicating chimpanzee spatial memory for invisible displacements, array rotations, and
array transpositions.