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| Research article summary (published 30 Dec 2001): |
Psychological diversity in chimpanzees and humans: new longitudinal assessments of chimpanzees' understanding of attention.
Full Abstract
We present the results of 5 experiments that assessed 7 chimpanzees' understanding of the visual experiences of others. The research was conducted when the animals were adolescents (7-8 years of age) and adults (12 years of age). The experiments examined their ability to recognize the equivalence between visual and tactile modes of gaining the attention of others (Exp. 1), their understanding that the vision of others can be impeded by opaque barriers (Exps. 2 and 5), and their ability to distinguish between postural cues which are and are not specifically relevant to visual attention (Exps. 3 and 4). The results suggest that although chimpanzees are excellent at exploiting the observable contingencies that exist between the facial and bodily postures of other agents on the one hand, and events in the world on the other, these animals may not construe others as possessing psychological states related to 'seeing' or 'attention.' Humans and chimpanzees share homologous suites of psychological systems that detect and process information about both the static and dynamic aspects of social life, but humans alone may possess systems which interpret behavior in terms of abstract, unobservable mental states such as seeing and attention.Copyright 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel
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Author information
Author/s: Povinelli, Daniel J (DJ); Dunphy-Lelii, Sarah (S); Reaux, James E (JE); Mazza, Michael P (MP);
Affiliation: Cognitive Evolution Group, University of Louisiana, New Iberia, La. 70560, USA. ceg(-atsign-)loisiana.edu
Journal and publication information
Publication Type: Clinical Trial; Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Journal: Brain, behavior and evolution (Brain Behav Evol), published in Switzerland. (Language: eng)
Reference: 2002-; vol 59 (issue 1-2) : pp 33-53
Dates: Created 2002/07/04; Completed 2002/09/03; Revised 2006/11/15;
PMID: 12097859, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)
Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.
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