2019 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report
Body perception in chimpanzees: from the perspective of comparative cognitive science
| Project/Area Number |
18J21474
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| Research Institution | Kyoto University |
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Principal Investigator |
GAO JIE 京都大学, 理学研究科, 特別研究員(DC1)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2018-04-25 – 2021-03-31
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| Keywords | body perception / expert effect / eye-tracking / chimpanzees / body knowledge |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
After the experiments in chimpanzees and humans about their body perception, I conducted supplementary experiments in humans last year. I found humans show the effect of expertise. Human participants, who were experts about chimpanzees, showed different performances in recognizing chimpanzee bodies from human participants that were chimpanzee novices. The difference was not drastic. Combined with the previous results that chimpanzees showed relatively limited expert effects to human stimuli, we conclude that chimpanzees are weaker than humans in the effect of expertise in body processing. The results revealed that humans can tune their special body processing to other species more flexibly than chimpanzees.
Transferring perception from the whole body to body parts, I conducted a series of eye-tracking experiments in chimpanzees to examine their body knowledge. I presented pictures of chimpanzee bodies with abnormal body part appearances or locations, and recorded their gaze. They paid more attention to the body parts when they were abnormal compared to normal condition. It suggests that chimpanzees have the knowledge about what their body parts should look like and where they should be. The results suggest that chimpanzees, like humans, have a certain level of understanding of their body parts. This may help them understand and predict others' behavior, as well as make their owns in response to the environment.
I received reviewers’ comments on my submitted manuscripts and revised them. In the last year, I had 1 paper published, 1 in press, and another close to be accepted.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
1: Research has progressed more than it was originally planned.
Reason
I have finished most data collection. I conducted experiments in humans about the effect of expertise in their processing of other species. I did developmental studies in human children, too, about their body processing and the expert effect. I conducted eye-tracking experiments in chimpanzees to examine their body knowledge.
I'm analyzing data of the eye-tracking experiment and I'm going to write the manuscript. I have submitted manuscripts for all other experiments. Among them, 2 were accepted, and 1 is close to be accepted.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
I have finished most data collection. I will focus on data analyses and writing my PhD thesis.
I will write a manuscript to report the results of the eye-tracking study. Apart from that, I will expand my study plan. I have tested "knowledge about body parts" using eye-tracking experiments. I plan to further investigate this question using other paradigms. I have tested the development of body perception in human children. This year I plan to test infant chimpanzees if babies are born in Kyoto University Primate Research Institute to examine the dev elopment of body perception in chimpanzees.
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