From Handling Stones and Nuts to Tool-Use

Hayashi, Misato; Inoue-Nakamura, Noriko

doi:10.1007/978-4-431-53921-6_19

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Other phenotypic biases are more subtle. Thumb morphology, for instance, allows for complex object manipulation in capuchins, chimpanzees [64] and precision grip in humans [65], but capuchins initially tend to strike or rub objects, whereas chimpanzees tend to stack them [45,56,66]. Thus, in acquiring nut-cracking skills, capuchins must learn to place a nut on the anvil before striking it, suggesting that striking is more fixed than stacking, whereas the contrary seems to apply to chimpanzees.…”

Section: (B) Phenotypic Biasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

If at first you don't succeed… Studies of ontogeny shed light on the cognitive demands of habitual tool use

Meulman

Seed

Mann

2013

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Many species use tools, but the mechanisms underpinning the behaviour differ between species and even among individuals within species, depending on the variants performed. When considering tool use ‘as adaptation’, an important first step is to understand the contribution made by fixed phenotypes as compared to flexible mechanisms, for instance learning. Social learning of tool use is sometimes inferred based on variation between populations of the same species but this approach is questionable. Specifically, alternative explanations cannot be ruled out because population differences are also driven by genetic and/or environmental factors. To better understand the mechanisms underlying routine but non-universal (i.e. habitual) tool use, we suggest focusing on the ontogeny of tool use and individual variation within populations. For example, if tool-using competence emerges late during ontogeny and improves with practice or varies with exposure to social cues, then a role for learning can be inferred. Experimental studies help identify the cognitive and developmental mechanisms used when tools are used to solve problems. The mechanisms underlying the route to tool-use acquisition have important consequences for our understanding of the accumulation in technological skill complexity over the life course of an individual, across generations and over evolutionary time.

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Section: (B) Phenotypic Biasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

If at first you don't succeed… Studies of ontogeny shed light on the cognitive demands of habitual tool use

Meulman

Seed

Mann

2013

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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“…As with use of tool sets, the behavioral sequence associated with manufacture and use of brush‐tipped fishing probes occurred on average after 3 years of age, and the component actions were acquired before they were combined into the correct order. Integration of actions into the correct sequence is hypothesized to be linked to the capacity for program‐level imitation (Hayashi & Inoue‐Nakamura, 2011; Marshall‐Pescini & Whiten, 2008). This process involves an individual perceiving the hierarchical organization of a task that emerges from statistical regularities in a model's behavior and parsing that behavior into meaningful units, enabling reproduction of the structure of the behavior (Byrne, 1994; Byrne & Russon, 1998).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The ontogeny of termite gathering among chimpanzees in the Goualougo Triangle, Republic of Congo

Musgrave

Lonsdorf

Morgan

et al. 2020

American J Phys Anthropol

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Objectives: Acquiring tool-assisted foraging skills can potentially improve dietary quality and increase fitness for wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). In contrast to chimpanzees in East and West Africa, chimpanzees in the Congo Basin use tool sets and brush-tipped fishing probes to gather termites. We investigated the ontogeny of these tool skills in chimpanzees of the Goualougo Triangle, Republic of Congo, and compared it to that for chimpanzees at Gombe, Tanzania. We assessed whether chimpanzees acquired simple tool behaviors and single tool use before more complex actions and sequential use of multiple tool types. Materials and Methods: Using a longitudinal approach, we scored remote video footage to document the acquisition of termite-gathering critical elements for 25 immature chimpanzees at Goualougo. Results: All chimpanzees termite fished by 2.9 years but did not manufacture brushtipped probes until an average of 4.3 years. Acquisition of sequential tool use extended into juvenility and adolescence. While we did not detect significant sex differences, most critical elements except tool manufacture were acquired slightly earlier by females. Discussion: These findings contrast with Gombe, where chimpanzees learn to both use and make fishing probes between ages 1.5-3.5 and acquire the complete task by age 5.5. Differences between sites could reflect tool material selectivity and design complexity, the challenge of sequential tool behaviors, and strength requirements of puncturing subterranean termite nests at Goualougo. These results illustrate how task complexity may influence the timing and sequence of skill acquisition, improving models of the ontogeny of tool behavior among early hominins who likely used complex, perishable technologies.

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“…The general findings gained from developmental studies suggest that the difficulty of nut-cracking acquisition may not exist in each action itself. Instead, the difficulty exists in formulating an appropriate combination of actions and objects in an appropriate sequence [43].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perspectives on object manipulation and action grammar for percussive actions in primates

Hayashi¹

2015

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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The skill of object manipulation is a common feature of primates including humans, although there are species-typical patterns of manipulation. Object manipulation can be used as a comparative scale of cognitive development, focusing on its complexity. Nut cracking in chimpanzees has the highest hierarchical complexity of tool use reported in non-human primates. An analysis of the patterns of object manipulation in naive chimpanzees after nut-cracking demonstrations revealed the cause of difficulties in learning nut-cracking behaviour. Various types of behaviours exhibited within a nut-cracking context can be examined in terms of the application of problem-solving strategies, focusing on their basis in causal understanding or insightful intentionality. Captive chimpanzees also exhibit complex forms of combinatory manipulation, which is the precursor of tool use. A new notation system of object manipulation was invented to assess grammatical rules in manipulative actions. The notation system of action grammar enabled direct comparisons to be made between primates including humans in a variety of object-manipulation tasks, including percussive-tool use.

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From Handling Stones and Nuts to Tool-Use

Cited by 7 publications

References 9 publications

If at first you don't succeed… Studies of ontogeny shed light on the cognitive demands of habitual tool use

If at first you don't succeed… Studies of ontogeny shed light on the cognitive demands of habitual tool use

The ontogeny of termite gathering among chimpanzees in the Goualougo Triangle, Republic of Congo

Perspectives on object manipulation and action grammar for percussive actions in primates

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