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Publications (47)
Previous studies have shown that a few bird and primate species successfully use two or more tools sequentially to obtain a goal. Our study incorporated some novel features: we aimed to assess whether captive capuchins (Sapajus spp.; N = 10) are able to sequentially use tools differing in rigidity to obtain a reward. A 90° angled plexiglas tube fil...
The study of how animals anticipate future actions is crucial to understand cognitive processes that guide behavior. The capacity to alter object manipulation not only on the basis of the immediate task demands but also of the next task to be performed involves second-order motor planning abilities (1). This response dependency is instantiated in t...
The way in which animals grasp objects to perform subsequent action execution allows studying their anticipatory abilities. We examined whether 11 capuchin monkeys (Sapajus spp.) were able to prospectively grasp a magnetic dowel to use it as a tool to retrieve a baited metallic container from a plexiglas box placed in front of them. We investigated...
How animals respond to novelty may have important outcomes in terms of fitness. On the one hand, aversion to novel stimuli may reduce the risks of consuming potentially toxic food or encountering predators. On the other hand, the propensity to approach novel stimuli may allow individuals to explore novel food sources and more flexibly adapt to nove...
In a previous study, chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, and capuchin monkeys faced a task that required the use of a rigid stick-like tool to displace an out-of-reach food reward, which was located outside the cage either hanging on a string (e.g., apes) or on a table (e.g., capuchins). Three unfamiliar stick-like tools were placed on a wooden platf...
Self-directed object manipulation tasks illuminate development of motor planning. Grasping strategies that lead to good object control to perform the following action(s) reveal second-order motor planning. Motor planning for efficient grips develops slowly in children. Age-related differences in other primates have been poorly investigated. Here, w...
The abilities to perform skilled hand movements and to manipulate objects dexterously are landmarks in the evolution of primates. The study of how primates use their hands to grasp and manipulate objects in accordance with their needs sheds light on how these species are physically and mentally equipped to deal with the problems they encounter in t...
The abilities to perform skilled hand movements and to manipulate objects dexterously are landmarks in the evolution of primates. The study of how primates use their hands to grasp and manipulate objects in accordance with their needs sheds light on how these species are physically and mentally equipped to deal with the problems they encounter in t...
Humans and other animals have a strong propensity to explore the environment. When human infants, as well as other primates, face the opportunity to interact with the environment by manipulating objects, they may discover and learn the contingency between one action and its outcome. Thus, manipulation, as a form of spontaneous exploration, has a gr...
Innovation has been defined as the ability either to find a solution to a novel problem by using motor and cognitive strategies already acquired, or to find a novel solution to an old problem through new motor and cognitive strategies. Innovation can improve fitness by allowing animals to adapt flexibly to social and ecological changes, but it coul...
Innovation has been defined as the ability to find a solution to a novel problem by using motor and cognitive strategies already acquired, or to find a novel solution to an old problem by using new motor and cognitive strategies. This ability can have important fitness consequences allowing animals to adapt flexibly to social and ecological changes...
Studies on motor planning and action selection in object use reveal that what we choose to do in the present moment depends on our next planned action. In particular, many studies have shown that adult humans initially adopt uncomfortable hand postures to accommodate later task demands (i.e., the end-state comfort effect). Recent studies on action...
Grasping behavior and object manipulation rely on both motor and cognitive skills. In fact, motor planning requires cognitive ability in selecting actions and acknowledging errors as well as motor ability in executing actions. Among non-human primates, capuchin monkeys are well-known to have a high degree of manual dexterity. In this study we asses...
Capuchin monkeys are well known to have a high degree of manual dexterity. In this study, we assessed the variability of capuchin grasping actions involving power grips, i.e., manual actions in which the object is grasped between the palm and one or several parts of the fingers and that do not necessarily involve individually controlled finger move...
Studies on motor planning and action selection in object use reveal that what we choose to
do in the present moment differs depending on what we intend to do next. In particular, many
studies have shown that human adults adopt initially uncomfortable hand postures to accommodate
later task demands (i.e., the end-state comfort effect). Recent studie...
Studi sulla pianificazione motoria e sulla selezione dell’azione manuale rivelano che ciò che si sta per compiere è influenzato da ciò che s’intende fare immediatamente dopo. In particolare, molti studi hanno dimostrato che gli umani adulti adottano inizialmente delle posture scomode della mano per raggiungere una posizione più funzionale all’azion...
There is still large controversy about whether abstract knowledge of physical problems is uniquely human. We presented 9 capuchin monkeys, 6 bonobos, 6 chimpanzees and 48 children with two versions of a broken-string problem. In the standard condition, participants had to choose between an intact and a broken string as means to a reward. In the cri...
Animals have a strong propensity to explore the environment. Spontaneous exploration has a great biological significance since it allows animals to discover and learn the relation between specific behaviours and their consequences. The role of the contingency between action and outcome for learning has been mainly investigated in instrumental learn...
In this chapter the design and fabrication of a new mechatronic platform (called “mechatronic board”) for behavioural analysis of children, non-human primates, and robots are presented and discussed. The platform is the result of a multidisciplinary design approach which merges indications coming from neuroscientists, psychologists, primatologists,...
Many animal species are sophisticated tool users. But so far, no other species has been found to construct and use complex tools as flexibly and innovatively as humans do. Already 18-month-old children seem to concentrate on relevant (i.e. functional) tool aspects while ignoring salient irrelevant object features and transfer this knowledge to new,...
In this work we present a new mechatronic platform for measuring behavior of nonhuman primates, allowing high reprogrammability and providing several possibilities of interactions. The platform is the result of a multidisciplinary design process, which has involved bio-engineers, developmental neuroscientists, primatologists, and roboticians to ide...
Although most primates live in groups, experiments on reciprocity usually test individuals in dyads. This could hide the processes emerging in richer social settings, reducing the ecological validity of the results. We run an experiment on reciprocal food transfers testing capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) in triads, so that subjects could choose to...
We examined whether eight capuchins and eight chimpanzees were able to retrieve a reward placed inside a tube, of varying length, by selecting the correct stick from different sets of three sticks differing in length (functional feature) and handle (non-functional feature). Moreover, to investigate whether seeing the stick inside the tube (visual f...
In this work we present a new mechatronic platform for measuring behavior of nonhuman primates, allowing high reprogrammability and providing several possibilities of interactions. The platform is the result of a multidisciplinary design process, which has involved bio-engineers, developmental neuroscientists, primatologists, and roboticians to ide...
Most analogical reasoning studies in non human animals focused on apes. Here, we explored the behavior of capuchin monkeys in several problems (either tool using tasks or matching to sample tasks) requiring different levels of abstraction. Overall, we found that specific experimental procedures lead some capuchins to master second-order relational...
Wild capuchin monkeys select stone tools to crack open nuts on the basis of their weight and friability, two non-visual functional properties. Here, we investigated whether they would select new stick-like tools on the basis of their rigidity. In Experiment 1, subjects faced an out-of-reach reward and a choice of three unfamiliar tools differing in...
We examined whether eight capuchins and eight chimpanzees were able to retrieve a reward placed inside a tube, of varying length, by selecting the correct stick from different sets of three sticks differing in length (functional feature) and handle (non-functional feature). Moreover, to investigate whether seeing the stick inside the tube (visual f...
Increasing urbanization and deforestation have enhanced the opportunities of contact between humans and monkeys and the impact of human activities on primate behavior is receiving growing attention. This study explores whether activity budgets and diet of a group of capuchin monkeys (Cebus libidinosus) inhabiting the area of the swimming pools of t...
Habitually, capuchin monkeys access encased hard foods by using their canines and premolars and/or by pounding the food on hard surfaces. Instead, the wild bearded capuchins (Cebus libidinosus) of Boa Vista (Brazil) routinely crack palm fruits with tools. We measured size, weight, structure, and peak-force-at-failure of the four palm fruit species...
The authors tested the ability of capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) to make inferences about hidden food. In Experiment 1, we showed the content of 2 boxes, 1 of which was baited (visual condition, VC) or we shook both boxes producing noise from the baited box (auditory condition, AC). Seven subjects (out of 8) were above chance in the VC, whereas on...
Food intake is difficult to estimate under natural conditions. We investigated ingestion rates of 14 different food types in 26 captive capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). The procedure consisted in weighing a piece of food and using a two alternative choice tests to present food to the subject, alone in its cage. We recorded the food chosen and the t...
We investigated responses toward novel foods and novel objects by wild capuchins that routinely exploit visitors' foods in Brasília National Park. Given the capuchins' daily exposure to human foods and objects, we expected them to be more explorative toward novel foods and objects compared to capuchins that are not habituated to visitors. However,...
The Parque Nacional de Brasília, in Brazil, is visited daily by hundreds of people, because of its relative proximity to the city of Brasília and the presence of natural swimming pools, trials and picnic areas. Capuchin monkeys habitually feed on the food that visitors give them, take food from the garbage and steal it from the visitors. We studied...
Captive primates are usually fed on monkey chow, a high-energy food designed to provide a complete and balanced diet for primates. In addition to the nutritional value of a food, its palatability, frequency of presentation in the daily diet and sensory stimulation may also be important for determining whether it is accepted by the animals. The aim...
Information on the process of preference acquisition towards novel foods in nonhuman primates is lacking. This study aims to assess (1) whether nutrient and energy contents affect preferences towards novel foods encountered repeatedly by individuals when alone, (2) whether these preferences change after additional encounters with the novel foods, a...
Projects
Projects (3)
We analyze behavior to gain insight into the intelligence behind it. In particular, we study how human and nonhuman primates grasp and use objects and we do this to learn about action planning and control. We believe that a useful way to study action planning is to observe changes in behavior as a function of the behavior that follows. If an action differs depending on the subsequent action, the anticipatory effect can be said to reflect planning.
The major aims of the present study are :
(1) to develop appropriate and analogous methods to test innovation in both human children and capuchin monkeys and across age-groups,
(2) to take a more process-oriented view on innovation exploring what distinguishes successful from unsuccessful innovators, and
(3) to investigate divergent thinking as a cognitive mechanism contributing to the process of innovation in both species (Bijvoet-van den Berg & Hoicka, 2014; Carr et al., 2016; Hoicka et al., 2016).
