Visual search for moving and stationary items in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and humans (Homo sapiens)

Matsuno, Toyomi; Tomonaga, Masaki

doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2006.05.004

Cited by 38 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…They were not food-deprived and were fed fruits, vegetables, and monkey chow three times each day during the period of experimentation. The chimpanzees had previously engaged in various kinds of computer-controlled perceptual and cognitive tasks, including visual-search tasks192025262728. The present study of humans and chimpanzees was approved by the Animal Welfare and Animal Care Committee of the Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University, and the chimpanzees were tested and cared for according to “The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Primates, 2nd edition” issued by the ethics committee of the Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University (2002).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A ground-like surface facilitates visual search in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Imura

Tomonaga

2013

Sci Rep

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Ground surfaces play an important role in terrestrial species' locomotion and ability to manipulate objects. In humans, ground surfaces have been found to offer significant advantages in distance perception and visual-search tasks (“ground dominance”). The present study used a comparative perspective to investigate the ground-dominance effect in chimpanzees, a species that spends time both on the ground and in trees. During the experiments chimpanzees and humans engaged in a search for a cube on a computer screen; the target cube was darker than other cubes. The search items were arranged on a ground-like or ceiling-like surface, which was defined by texture gradients and shading. The findings indicate that a ground-like, but not a ceiling-like, surface facilitated the search for a difference in luminance among both chimpanzees and humans. Our findings suggest the operation of a ground-dominance effect on visual search in both species.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A ground-like surface facilitates visual search in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Imura

Tomonaga

2013

Sci Rep

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“…She was moved to the Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University (KUPRI), Japan, when she was 4 years of age. She has engaged in various types of computer-controlled perceptual–cognitive tasks, including visual-search tasks [48], [49], [50], [51]. She has also engaged in face recognition tasks using a matching paradigm [52] as well as in visual-search tasks involving the orientation of faces [53].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visual Search for Human Gaze Direction by a Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes)

Tomonaga

Imura

2010

PLoS ONE

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BackgroundHumans detect faces with direct gazes among those with averted gazes more efficiently than they detect faces with averted gazes among those with direct gazes. We examined whether this “stare-in-the-crowd” effect occurs in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), whose eye morphology differs from that of humans (i.e., low-contrast eyes, dark sclera).Methodology/Principal FindingsAn adult female chimpanzee was trained to search for an odd-item target (front view of a human face) among distractors that differed from the target only with respect to the direction of the eye gaze. During visual-search testing, she performed more efficiently when the target was a direct-gaze face than when it was an averted-gaze face. This direct-gaze superiority was maintained when the faces were inverted and when parts of the face were scrambled. Subsequent tests revealed that gaze perception in the chimpanzee was controlled by the contrast between iris and sclera, as in humans, but that the chimpanzee attended only to the position of the iris in the eye, irrespective of head direction.Conclusion/SignificanceThese results suggest that the chimpanzee can discriminate among human gaze directions and are more sensitive to direct gazes. However, limitations in the perception of human gaze by the chimpanzee are suggested by her inability to completely transfer her performance to faces showing a three-quarter view.

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“…Studies that did not focus primarily on global-local processing have also found differences between human and nonhuman primates in terms of perceptual organization. Matsuno and Tomonaga (2006b) compared the performances of humans and chimpanzees in a detection task using a stationary target situated among moving distracters. Humans perceptually grouped distracters that moved coherently (Fig.…”

Section: Perceptual Organizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparative psychophysical approach to visual perception in primates

Matsuno

Fujita

2009

Primates

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Studies on the visual processing of primates, which have well developed visual systems, provide essential information about the perceptual bases of their higher-order cognitive abilities. Although the mechanisms underlying visual processing are largely shared between human and nonhuman primates, differences have also been reported. In this article, we review psychophysical investigations comparing the basic visual processing that operates in human and nonhuman species, and discuss the future contributions potentially deriving from such comparative psychophysical approaches to primate minds.

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Visual search for moving and stationary items in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and humans (Homo sapiens)

Cited by 38 publications

References 49 publications

A ground-like surface facilitates visual search in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

A ground-like surface facilitates visual search in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Visual Search for Human Gaze Direction by a Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes)

A comparative psychophysical approach to visual perception in primates

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