1. Searching in the Middle—Capuchins' (Cebus apella) and Bonobos' (Pan paniscus) Behavior During a Spatial Search Task.
- Author
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Potì, Patrizia, Kanngiesser, Patricia, Saporiti, Martina, Amiconi, Alessandra, Bläsing, Bettina, and Call, Josep
- Subjects
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BONOBO , *CAPUCHIN monkeys , *PRIMATE behavior , *GEOGRAPHIC boundaries , *PRIMATES , *SPATIAL ability , *TRAINING - Abstract
In this study we show that bonobos and capuchin monkeys can learn to search in the middle of a landmark configuration in a small-scale space. Five bonobos (Pan paniscus) and 2 capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) were tested in a series of experiments with the expansion test paradigm. The primates were trained to search in the middle of a 4- or 2-landmark configuration, and were then tested with the same configuration expanded. Neither species searched in the middle of the expanded 4-landmark configuration. When presented with a 2-landmark configuration and a constant or variable inter-landmark training distance, the subjects sometimes searched preferentially in the middle of the expanded configuration. We discuss 2 alternative explanations of the results: extracting a middle rule or averaging between different goal-landmark vectors. In any case, compared to adult humans, primates appear highly constrained in their abilities to search in the middle of a configuration of detached landmarks. We discuss some of the factors that may influence the primates' behavior in this task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2010
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