Causal knowledge and imitation/emulation switching in chimpanzees (Pan trogiodytes) and children (Homo sapiens)
Causal knowledge and imitation/emulation switching in chimpanzees (Pan trogiodytes) and children (Homo sapiens)
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DOI：
10.1007/s10071-004-0239-6
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发表时间：
2005-07-01
期刊：
影响因子：
2.7
通讯作者：
Whiten, A
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Horner, V;Whiten, A
这项研究探讨了黑猩猩和儿童使用模仿或模仿来解决使用工具的任务的倾向是否是对因果信息可用性的反应。来自非洲保护区的幼年野生黑猩猩和3到4岁的孩子们观察到一名人类演示者使用工具从一个拼图盒中获取奖励。演示涉及因果相关和不相关的行为，盒子在两种情况下分别呈现：不透明和清晰。在不透明的条件下，关于盒子内工具效果的因果信息是不可用的，因此不可能区分演示的相关部分和不相关部分。然而，在明确的条件下，因果信息是可用的，受试者可以潜在地确定哪些行动是必要的。当黑猩猩看到不透明的盒子时，它们会重现相关和不相关的动作，从而模仿任务的整体结构。当盒子在清晰的条件下呈现时，他们反而忽略了无关的行为，而倾向于更有效、更具竞争性的技术。这些结果表明，当有足够的因果信息时，模仿是黑猩猩最喜欢的策略。然而，如果没有这样的信息，黑猩猩倾向于对观察到的动作进行更全面的复制。与黑猩猩不同的是，在这两种情况下，儿童都是以牺牲效率为代价，通过模仿来解决任务。我们认为，黑猩猩和儿童的表现差异可能是由于儿童对文化习俗更敏感，可能与对演示者的结果、行动和目标的不同关注相结合。
This study explored whether the tendency of chimpanzees and children to use emulation or imitation to solve a tool-using task was a response to the availability of causal information. Young wild-born chimpanzees from an African sanctuary and 3- to 4-year-old children observed a human demonstrator use a tool to retrieve a reward from a puzzle-box. The demonstration involved both causally relevant and irrelevant actions, and the box was presented in each of two conditions: opaque and clear. In the opaque condition, causal information about the effect of the tool inside the box was not available, and hence it was impossible to differentiate between the relevant and irrelevant parts of the demonstration. However, in the clear condition causal information was available, and subjects could potentially determine which actions were necessary. When chimpanzees were presented with the opaque box, they reproduced both the relevant and irrelevant actions, thus imitating the overall structure of the task. When the box was presented in the clear condition they instead ignored the irrelevant actions in favour of a more efficient, emulative technique. These results suggest that emulation is the favoured strategy of chimpanzees when sufficient causal information is available. However, if such information is not available, chimpanzees are prone to employ a more comprehensive copy of an observed action. In contrast to the chimpanzees, children employed imitation to solve the task in both conditions, at the expense of efficiency. We suggest that the difference in performance of chimpanzees and children may be due to a greater susceptibility of children to cultural conventions, perhaps combined with a differential focus on the results, actions and goals of the demonstrator.