Seeing who we hear and hearing who we see

Seyfarth, Robert M.; Cheney, Dorothy L.

doi:10.1073/pnas.0811894106

Cited by 22 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…The relative complexity of this process explains why individual recognition has long been thought to be a uniquely human capacity, which has been reported to develop ∼4 mo of age (35). However, it has recently been demonstrated in a few other species (16)(17)(18)(19) and might be more widespread in animals (36,37). Evidence for individual recognition by rhesus macaques raises the issue of the adaptive value of this very precise type of social recognition during interactions with conspecifics.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Spontaneous voice–face identity matching by rhesus monkeys for familiar conspecifics and humans

Sliwa

Duhamel

Pascalis

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

117

102

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Recognition of a particular individual occurs when we reactivate links between current perceptual inputs and the previously formed representation of that person. This recognition can be achieved by identifying, separately or simultaneously, distinct elements such as the face, silhouette, or voice as belonging to one individual. In humans, those different cues are linked into one complex conceptual representation of individual identity. Here we tested whether rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) also have a cognitive representation of identity by evaluating whether they exhibit cross-modal individual recognition. Further, we assessed individual recognition of familiar conspecifics and familiar humans. In a free preferential looking time paradigm, we found that, for both species, monkeys spontaneously matched the faces of known individuals to their voices. This finding demonstrates that rhesus macaques possess a cross-modal cognitive representation of individuals that extends from conspecifics to humans, revealing the adaptive potential of identity recognition for individuals of socioecological relevance.cross-species | vocal communication | nonhuman primates | picture recognition I n humans, both faces and voices convey information about identity, providing some of the many cues we use to recognize individuals we know (1). The multifaceted nature of identity code suggests that a complex cognitive representation binds semantic information with information of different sensory modalities. In rhesus monkeys, however, it has typically been assessed only via single-modality information. For instance, rhesus monkeys can discriminate between calls of two conspecifics in a playback experiment using a spontaneous habituation-discrimination paradigm (2). They are also able to discriminate faces of two conspecifics in a match-to-sample task (3) and monkey faces or human faces in visual paired comparison tasks (4-6). These observations demonstrate that monkeys can discriminate idiosyncratic characteristics ("individual A is different from B") for their own or other species. However, they do not provide evidence of individual recognition ("this is individual A, this is B"). In comparison with discrimination, individual recognition requires an additional associative level that allows retrieval of information belonging to a specific individual. In rhesus monkeys, coarse recognition processes such as of their own species, kin, gender, reproductive status, or hierarchy are well documented (2, 7-12). However, these rudimentary recognition abilities fail to account for some sophisticated behaviors that are observed in rhesus macaques' societies. In particular, rhesus macaques live in large groups and maintain elaborate social relations involving, e.g., nonkin alliances during aggressive interactions, fight interference, reciprocal support, friendly grooming, and reconciliation (13-15). Such an organization would benefit well from the finest-grain individual recognition based on a cognitive multimodal representation of identity.Individu...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Spontaneous voice–face identity matching by rhesus monkeys for familiar conspecifics and humans

Sliwa

Duhamel

Pascalis

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

117

102

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“…Cross-modal sensory perception is the ability to integrate information from multiple senses-in the case of individual recognition, this often involves matching vocal and visual cues, which may be demonstrated through experiments in which subjects detect a mismatch when the cues do not correspond [5,7]. While there is now direct evidence for cross-modal recognition in a range of species tested in captive or domestic settings [5,[7][8][9], this ability has not been directly shown in the wild during natural social communication among conspecifics [6]. Such investigations are facilitated by a study species where repeated social interactions lead to important long-term social relationships, in which communication involves multiple sensory modalities, and where communication signals are known to provide familiarity cues as well as potential cues to identity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, while individual recognition is thought to be a widespread ability [3], providing robust scientific support for recognition at the level of the individual has proved difficult [4,5]. 'True' individual recognition strictly constitutes the identification of a specific individual, according to individually distinct cues, and the placement of that individual within a society of many others [6]. In empirical terms, it is necessary to demonstrate (i) that recognition occurs at the level of the individual (rather than at a broader level) and (ii) that there is matching of current sensory cues to identity with information stored in memory about that specific individual.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cross-modal individual recognition in wild African lions

et al. 2016

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Individual recognition is considered to have been fundamental in the evolution of complex social systems and is thought to be a widespread ability throughout the animal kingdom. Although robust evidence for individual recognition remains limited, recent experimental paradigms that examine cross-modal processing have demonstrated individual recognition in a range of captive non-human animals. It is now highly relevant to test whether cross-modal individual recognition exists within wild populations and thus examine how it is employed during natural social interactions. We address this question by testing audio -visual cross-modal individual recognition in wild African lions (Panthera leo) using an expectancy-violation paradigm. When presented with a scenario where the playback of a loud-call (roaring) broadcast from behind a visual block is incongruent with the conspecific previously seen there, subjects responded more strongly than during the congruent scenario where the call and individual matched. These findings suggest that lions are capable of audio -visual cross-modal individual recognition and provide a useful method for studying this ability in wild populations.

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“…In order to truly demonstrate individual recognition, it is necessary to show that a test subject identifies a specific individual and that there is a match between current individually distinct cues, such as the individual's vocalization, and information about that individual that is stored in the memory of the test subject, such as the individual's last known location [117].…”

Section: Cross Modal Individual Recognition In Carnivoresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical assessment in the wild: insights from social carnivores

Benson‐Amram

Gilfillan

McComb

2018

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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SummaryPlayback experiments have proven to be a useful tool to investigate the extent to which wild animals understand numerical concepts and the factors that play into their decisions to respond to different numbers of vocalizing conspecifics. In particular, playback experiments have broadened our understanding of the cognitive abilities of historically understudied species that are challenging to test in the traditional laboratory, such as members of the Order Carnivora. Additionally, playback experiments allow us to assess the importance of numerical information versus other ecologically important variables when animals are making adaptive decisions in their natural habitats. Here, webegin by reviewing what we know about quantity discrimination in carnivores from studies conducted in captivity. We then review a series of playback experiments conducted with wild social carnivores, including African lions, spotted hyenas, and wolves, which demonstrate that these animals can assess the number of conspecifics calling and respond based on numerical advantage.We discuss how the wild studies compliment those conducted in captivity and allow us to gain insights into why wild animals may not always respond based solely on differences in quantity. We then consider the key role that individual discrimination and cross-modal recognition play in the 2 ability of animals to assess the number of conspecifics vocalizing nearby. Finally, we explore new directions for future research in this area, highlighting in particular the need for further work on the cognitive basis of numerical assessment skills and experimental paradigms that can be effective in both captive and wild settings.

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Seeing who we hear and hearing who we see

Cited by 22 publications

References 27 publications

Spontaneous voice–face identity matching by rhesus monkeys for familiar conspecifics and humans

Spontaneous voice–face identity matching by rhesus monkeys for familiar conspecifics and humans

Cross-modal individual recognition in wild African lions

Numerical assessment in the wild: insights from social carnivores

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