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Do chimpanzees reason logically?

Authors :
Engelmann, Jan M.
Haux, Lou M.
Völter, Christoph
Schleihauf, Hanna
Call, Josep
Rakoczy, Hannes
Herrmann, Esther
Source :
Child Development; Sep2023, Vol. 94 Issue 5, p1102-1116, 15p, 4 Graphs
Publication Year :
2023

Abstract

Psychologists disagree about the development of logical concepts such as or and not. While some theorists argue that infants reason logically, others maintain that logical inference is contingent on linguistic abilities and emerges around age 4. In this Registered Report, we conducted five experiments on logical reasoning in chimpanzees. Subjects (N = 16; 10 females; M = 24 years) participated in the same setup that has been administered to children: the two‐, three‐, and four‐cup‐task. Chimpanzees performed above chance in the two‐cup‐, but not in the three‐cup‐task. Furthermore, chimpanzees selected the logically correct option more often in the test than the control condition of the four‐cup‐task. We discuss possible interpretations of these findings and conclude that our results are most consistent with non‐deductive accounts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
00093920
Volume :
94
Issue :
5
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
Child Development
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
171385503
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13861