To investigate how embodied sensorimotor interactions shape subjective visual experience, we developed a novel combination of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) within an adapted breaking continuous flash suppression (bCFS) paradigm. In a first experiment, participants manipulated novel virtual 3D objects, viewed through a head-mounted display, using three interlocking cogs. This setup allowed us to manipulate the sensorimotor contingencies governing interactions with virtual objects, while characterising the effects on subjective visual experience by measuring breakthrough times from bCFS. We contrasted the effects of the congruency (veridical versus reversed sensorimotor coupling) and contingency (live versus replayed interactions) using a motion discrimination task. The results showed that the contingency but not congruency of sensorimotor coupling affected breakthrough times, with live interactions displaying faster breakthrough times. In a second experiment, we investigated how the contingency of sensorimotor interactions affected object category discrimination within a more naturalistic setting, using a motion tracker that allowed object interactions with increased degrees of freedom. We again found that breakthrough times were faster for live compared to replayed interactions (contingency effect). Together, these data demonstrate that bCFS breakthrough times for unfamiliar 3D virtual objects are modulated by the contingency of the dynamic causal coupling between actions and their visual consequences, in line with theories of perception that emphasise the influence of sensorimotor contingencies on visual experience. The combination of VR/AR and motion tracking technologies with bCFS provides a novel methodology extending the use of binocular suppression paradigms into more dynamic and realistic sensorimotor environments.

No abstract

Existing data on bonobo and chimpanzee dental eruption timing are derived predominantly from captive individuals or deceased wild individuals. However, recent advances in noninvasive photographic monitoring of living, wild apes have greatly expanded our knowledge of chimpanzee dental eruption in relatively healthy individuals under naturalistic conditions. We employ similar methods to expand on this knowledge by reporting deciduous dental eruption ages in living, wild bonobos and chimpanzees from LuiKotale, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Gombe National Park, Tanzania, respectively. Deciduous dental eruption ages in our sample generally fall within the range of variation previously documented for captive chimpanzees. We also found substantial variation in deciduous canine eruption timing, particularly among bonobos. One bonobo had a deciduous canine present by 227 days old while another did not have a deciduous canine present at 477 days old. As more data accumulate from these populations, future studies should consider sources of variation in deciduous canine eruption timing and relationships with other aspects of life history.

To investigate how embodied sensorimotor interactions shape subjective visual experience, we developed a novel combination of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) within an adapted breaking continuous flash suppression (bCFS) paradigm. In a first experiment, participants manipulated novel virtual 3D objects, viewed through a head-mounted display, using three interlocking cogs. This setup allowed us to manipulate the sensorimotor contingencies governing interactions with virtual objects, while characterising the effects on subjective visual experience by measuring breakthrough times from bCFS. We contrasted the effects of the congruency (veridical versus reversed sensorimotor coupling) and contingency (live versus replayed interactions) using a motion discrimination task. The results showed that the contingency but not congruency of sensorimotor coupling affected breakthrough times, with live interactions displaying faster breakthrough times. In a second experiment, we investigated how the contingency of sensorimotor interactions affected object category discrimination within a more naturalistic setting, using a motion tracker that allowed object interactions with increased degrees of freedom. We again found that breakthrough times were faster for live compared to replayed interactions (contingency effect). Together, these data demonstrate that bCFS breakthrough times for unfamiliar 3D virtual objects are modulated by the contingency of the dynamic causal coupling between actions and their visual consequences, in line with theories of perception that emphasise the influence of sensorimotor contingencies on visual experience. The combination of VR/AR and motion tracking technologies with bCFS provides a novel methodology extending the use of binocular suppression paradigms into more dynamic and realistic sensorimotor environments.

Objectives: Existing data on bonobo and chimpanzee dental eruption timing are derived predominantly from captive individuals or deceased wild individuals. However, recent advances in noninvasive photographic monitoring of living, wild apes have enabled researchers to characterize dental eruption in relatively healthy individuals under naturalistic conditions. At present, such data are available for only one population of wild chimpanzees. We report data for an additional population of wild chimpanzees and the first dental eruption data for wild bonobos. Materials and Methods: We collected photographs and video footage of teeth from the open mouths of wild bonobos and East African chimpanzees of known age from LuiKotale, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Gombe National Park, Tanzania, respectively. We scored the presence and absence of deciduous teeth from photographs and video footage to characterize deciduous dental eruption timing in these two populations.Results: Deciduous dental eruption ages in our sample fall within the range of variation previously documented for captive chimpanzees, but eruption ages are later in wild than in captive contexts. We found substantial variation in deciduous canine eruption timing, particularly among bonobos. One bonobo had a deciduous canine present by 227 days old while another did not have a deciduous canine present at 477 days old.