Object manipulation to obtain a food reward in hoolock gibbons, Bunopithecus hoolock

Cunningham, Clare L.; Anderson, James R.; Mootnick, Alan R.

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2005.05.013

Cited by 48 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…However, there is no conclusive evidence that non-human animals can use causal knowledge rather than associative learning to solve complex physical problems ( Visalberghi & Limongelli 1994;Limongelli et al 1995;Povinelli 2000;Fujita et al 2003;Call 2004;Tebbich & Bshary 2004;Cunningham et al 2006;Mulcahy & Call 2006;Santos et al 2006;Seed et al 2006;Penn & Povinelli 2007;Girndt et al 2008;Martin-Ordas et al 2008;Sabbatini & Visalberghi 2008). The absence of evidence that non-human animals use sophisticated cognition when solving complex physical problems has led to suggestions that causal reasoning in humans is fundamentally different (Penn & Povinelli 2007;Penn et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do New Caledonian crows solve physical problems through causal reasoning?

et al. 2008

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The extent to which animals other than humans can reason about physical problems is contentious. The benchmark test for this ability has been the trap-tube task. We presented New Caledonian crows with a series of two-trap versions of this problem. Three out of six crows solved the initial trap-tube. These crows continued to avoid the trap when the arbitrary features that had previously been associated with successful performances were removed. However, they did not avoid the trap when a hole and a functional trap were in the tube. In contrast to a recent primate study, the three crows then solved a causally equivalent but visually distinct problem-the trap-table task. The performance of the three crows across the four transfers made explanations based on chance, associative learning, visual and tactile generalization, and previous dispositions unlikely. Our findings suggest that New Caledonian crows can solve complex physical problems by reasoning both causally and analogically about causal relations. Causal and analogical reasoning may form the basis of the New Caledonian crow's exceptional tool skills.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do New Caledonian crows solve physical problems through causal reasoning?

et al. 2008

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“…Rumbaugh (1970) observed a gibbon using a cloth as a sponge and a rope to make a swing in captivity. There is a recent study on object manipulation (Cunningham, Anderson, & Mootnick, 2006) of hoolock gibbons. In the first experiment, hoolocks learned to pull a rake to obtain an out-of-reach food item.…”

Section: Cognition Of Small Apesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We chose gibbons as subjects not only because they are an underrepresented group in cognitive studies but also because of their unique phylogenetic position. Since they are taxonomically apes, but intermediate between great apes and Old World monkeys (Cunningham et al, 2006), it would be highly interesting from a comparative point of view to assess their abilities in these frequently used tasks.…”

Section: Cognition Of Small Apesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Object permanence tests on gibbons (Hylobatidae).

Fedor¹,

Skollár²,

Szerencsy³

et al. 2008

Journal of Comparative Psychology

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Ten gibbons of various species (Symphalangus syndactylus, Hylobates lar, Nomascus gabriellae, and Nomascus leucogenys) were tested on object permanence tasks. Three identical wooden boxes, presented in a linear line, were used to hide pieces of food. The authors conducted single visible, single invisible, double invisible, and control displacements, in both random and nonrandom order. During invisible displacements, the experimenter hid the object in her hand before putting it into a box. The performance of gibbons was better than expected by chance in all the tests, except for the randomly ordered double displacement. However, individual analysis of performance showed great variability across subjects, and only 1 gibbon is assumed to have solved single visible and single invisible displacements without recourse to a strategy that the control test eliminated.

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“…The problem here is that Arp has missed studies that detail macaques fishing (Stewart et al, 2008), orca whales catching seagulls for food (Vos et al, 2006), gibbons using rakes to retrieve food (Cunningham et al, 2006), and even the gold-standard of examples, Japanese Macaques washing their potatos (Macaca fuscata) (Kawai, 1965).…”

Section: William R Belchermentioning

confidence: 98%

Book review: Technique and Application in Dental Anthropology

Temple¹

2008

American J Hum Biol

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Object manipulation to obtain a food reward in hoolock gibbons, Bunopithecus hoolock

Cited by 48 publications

References 35 publications

Do New Caledonian crows solve physical problems through causal reasoning?

Do New Caledonian crows solve physical problems through causal reasoning?

Object permanence tests on gibbons (Hylobatidae).

Book review: Technique and Application in Dental Anthropology

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