Sensorimotor development in orang-utans and other primates

Chevalier‐Skolnikoff, Suzanne

doi:10.1016/s0047-2484(83)80034-7

Cited by 88 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Bringing the hand to the mouth is apparent after 20 weeks of gestation in human (Myowa‐Yamakoshi & Takeshita, 2006) and chimpanzee foetuses (Takeshita et al, 2016) and is well‐organized at birth in humans and chimpanzees (Takeshita et al, 2016). Grasping objects to bring them to the mouth is among the earliest self‐directed actions in which infant primates engage (Chevalier‐Skolnikoff, 1983; Rochat, 1993). Motor planning appears earlier in self‐directed tasks than in externally directed tasks (Claxton et al, 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anticipating future actions: Motor planning improves with age in wild bearded capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus)

Truppa

Sabbatini

Izar

et al. 2021

Developmental Science

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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, we investigated anticipatory motor planning of infant, juvenile and adult wild capuchin monkeys grasping a horizontally positioned stick baited to the left or right side (a version of the elevated spoon task). We recorded the grasps capuchins used to bring the baited end of the stick to the mouth. The percentage of efficient radial grips positively correlated with age and adults used efficient grips significantly more frequently than infants. Adult wild capuchins' use of radial grips was higher than that reported for adult captive capuchins in similar tasks, suggesting that experience throughout life may influence motor anticipation. Self-directed object manipulation tasks will be useful to compare this aspect of cognition across primates. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://youtu.be/a1Zbr_AQkb8.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anticipating future actions: Motor planning improves with age in wild bearded capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus)

Truppa

Sabbatini

Izar

et al. 2021

Developmental Science

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“…Recent research with over 100 chimpanzees suggests that self-recognition may be markedly delayed in chimpanzees as compared to human infants Eddy et al, in press). Indeed, it is of great interest to us that this new research suggests that many chimpanzees do not develop self-recognition until about 4.5 to 8 years of age, precisely the point at which most previous investigators have discovered the close of Stage 6 sensorimotor development in chimpanzees (see Chevalier-Skolnikoff, 1983). In addition, this is the same age (5 to 8 years) that Bard (1987) reported the most compiex forms of sensorimotor intelligence (planning in advance of acting) being used by feral orangutanjuveniles during complex bouts of locomotion.…”

Section: Ontogeny Of Self-recognitionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Captive chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas have all been studied for their patterns of sensorimotor development (Chevalier-Skolnikoff, 1977Redshaw, 1978;Vauclair and Bard, 1983;Bard, 1990). There is some evidence that chimpanzees and orangutans do, in fact, pass through the first four sensorimotor stages faster than gorillas during development (Chevalier-Skolnikoff, 1983); however, the most detailed data are inconsistent, and primarily derived from animals in captivity. More importantly, our prediction concerns locomotion relative to sensorimotor intelligence, and so far data on this exist only for a single captive gorilla and several captive chimpanzees.…”

Section: Locomotion and Sensorimotor Intelligencementioning

confidence: 99%

Arboreal Clambering and the Evolution of Self-Conception

Povinelli

Cant²

1995

The Quarterly Review of Biology

183

116

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A fundamentally new psychology related to the ability to conceive of limited aspects of the self may have evolved in the ancestor of the great ape/human clade. Existing models of the evolution of primate intelligence do not provide an adequate explanation of the apparent restriction of this phenomenon. We propose that the capacity for self-conception evolved as a psychological mechanism enabling large-bodied, highly arboreal apes to cope with problems posed by the need to negotiate their way through a habitat that was fragile due to their body size. First, we briefly outline the case for believing that a new psychology related to self-conception evolved during the Miocene in the ancestor of the great ape/human clade. Next, we examine the existing models of the evolution of primate intelligence and assess their ability to account for the evolution of self-conception. Finally, we offer details of our alternative model, along with a series of predictions that can be derived from it.

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“…Fine motor control is refined throughout childhood as children gain experience manipulating tools, and is necessary for accurate application in tool using tasks [29,30,76]. Similar improvement occurs in juvenile primates as they gain experience using tools and their physical strength and coordination improves [27,77].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A cross-cultural investigation of young children's spontaneous invention of tool use behaviours

et al. 2020

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Through the mechanisms of observation, imitation and teaching, young children readily pick up the tool using behaviours of their culture. However, little is known about the baseline abilities of children's tool use: what they might be capable of inventing on their own in the absence of socially provided information. It has been shown that children can spontaneously invent 11 of 12 candidate tool using behaviours observed within the foraging behaviours of wild non-human apes (Reindl et al . 2016 Proc. R. Soc. B 283 , 20152402. ( doi:10.1098/rspb.2015.2402 )). However, no investigations to date have examined how tool use invention in children might vary across cultural contexts. The current study investigated the levels of spontaneous tool use invention in 2- to 5-year-old children from San Bushmen communities in South Africa and children in a large city in Australia on the same 12 candidate problem-solving tasks. Children in both cultural contexts correctly invented all 12 candidate tool using behaviours, suggesting that these behaviours are within the general cognitive and physical capacities of human children and can be produced in the absence of direct social learning mechanisms such as teaching or observation. Children in both cultures were more likely to invent those tool behaviours more frequently observed in great ape populations than those less frequently observed, suggesting there is similarity in the level of difficulty of invention across these behaviours for all great ape species. However, children in the Australian sample invented tool behaviours and succeeded on the tasks more often than did the Bushmen children, highlighting that aspects of a child's social or cultural environment may influence the rates of their tool use invention on such task sets, even when direct social information is absent.

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Sensorimotor development in orang-utans and other primates

Cited by 88 publications

References 6 publications

Anticipating future actions: Motor planning improves with age in wild bearded capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus)

Anticipating future actions: Motor planning improves with age in wild bearded capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus)

Arboreal Clambering and the Evolution of Self-Conception

A cross-cultural investigation of young children's spontaneous invention of tool use behaviours

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