Feature versus spatial strategies by orangutans (Pongo abelii) and human children (Homo sapiens) in a cross-dimensional task

Despite the fact that photographic stimuli are used across experimental contexts with both human and nonhuman subjects, the nature of individuals' perceptions of these stimuli is still not well understood. In the present experiments, we tested whether three orangutans and 36 human children coul...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Vol. 127; no. 2; p. 128
Main Authors: Marsh, Heidi L, Adams, Laura, Floyd, Catherine, MacDonald, Suzanne E
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States 01.05.2013
Subjects:
Animals
Behavior, Animal - physiology
Child
Child, Preschool
Cues
Female
Humans
Male
Neuropsychological Tests
Pongo abelii - physiology
Pongo abelii - psychology
Problem Solving - classification
Problem Solving - physiology
Psychomotor Performance - physiology
Space Perception - physiology
ISSN:1939-2087, 1939-2087
Online Access:Get more information
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Summary:Despite the fact that photographic stimuli are used across experimental contexts with both human and nonhuman subjects, the nature of individuals' perceptions of these stimuli is still not well understood. In the present experiments, we tested whether three orangutans and 36 human children could use photographic information presented on a computer screen to solve a perceptually corresponding problem in the physical domain. Furthermore, we tested the cues that aided in this process by pitting featural information against spatial position in a series of probe trials. We found that many of the children and one orangutan were successfully able to use the information cross-dimensionally; however, the other two orangutans and almost a quarter of the children failed to acquire the task. Species differences emerged with respect to ease of task acquisition. More striking, however, were the differences in cues that participants used to solve the task: Whereas the orangutan used a spatial strategy, the majority of children used a feature one. Possible reasons for these differences are discussed from both evolutionary and developmental perspectives. The novel results found here underscore the need for further testing in this area to design appropriate experimental paradigms in future comparative research settings.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
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ISSN:1939-2087
1939-2087
DOI:10.1037/a0030591