2018 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 / chimpanzees / comparative cognition / body knowledge / body structure |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
I conducted experiments in chimpanzees about their body processing. I found chimpanzees are better at recognizing chimpanzee bodies when they are upright, compared to when they are inverted, while they do not show any difference to other objects in upright and inverted positions. This body inversion effect suggests that chimpanzees use a special way to process bodies, which is different from the way they use for other objects. Bodies are special in function because they convey social information, and this study found that they are also special in cognitive processes. Additionally, I found that the head and body contour are important cues to cause the specific body processing. These results have been published on PLoS ONE (Gao & Tomonaga 2018).
I then further investigated the body knowledge in chimpanzees, focusing on their understanding of body structures. I used the inversion effect to detect their reactions towards bodies with abnormal body structures. If they show different reactions from the normal bodies, it means that they have the knowledge of body structures.
Knowing about bodies of other species is as important as knowing body structures of conspecifics, because it is the basis to discriminate species and it is vital for animals’ living. I tested chimpanzees using other species’ bodies to see their processing. I also tested human adults and human children with bodies of different species to see how they process other species. I have finished the data collection. Most data have been written in the manuscripts and were submitted.
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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
The data collection is stick to and went further than the plan. The results of the data illustrated many interesting facets of the research topic, and will inspire future research. I have found that chimpanzees use a special way to process chimpanzee bodies, which is different from the way they use for other objects. Bodies are important social cues for animals, and this finding reveals that animals have evolved a specific way targeted to detect bodies. I also did experiments about chimpanzees’ understanding of body structures. I found that they have the knowledge of body structures to some extent. This is crucial for their living because it is the basis of discriminate conpsecifics and other species. I then tested their processing for bodies of other species to see how different it is from the way to process conspecifics. I also tested this in human adults and children so I could compare the two species to know about the evolution of body processing, as well as the development of body processing.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
I plan to continue to conduct experiments about “understand body structures” in chimpanzees and humans, and I plan to conduct experiments about “understanding of body parts” in adult chimpanzees and humans; and “configural body processing” and “understanding of body structures” in infant chimpanzees this year, if a new baby is born in the Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University.
For “understanding body structures”, I will continue to analyze the participants' visual attention towards body pictures with abnormal body structures using eye-tracking technique to examine their understanding of body structures.
For “understanding of body parts”, I will use computer tasks on touch screens to test how good the participants are at matching body parts to know their knowledge about the locations and functions of body parts. I will also investigate visual illusions about body images to understand their perception for body parts.
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