A new notation system of object manipulation in the nesting-cup task for chimpanzees and humans
A new notation system of object manipulation in the nesting-cup task for chimpanzees and humans
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DOI：
10.1016/s0010-9452(08)70457-x
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发表时间：
2007-04-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.6
通讯作者：
Hayashi, Misato
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Hayashi, Misato
巢杯任务已被用于评估人类以及非人类灵长类动物的认知能力。以前的研究试图通过构建和评估各种类别的操纵来突出行为的有趣方面。本研究介绍了一种新的符号系统，描述操作嵌套杯任务的顺序代码的形式。按照这种符号，操纵杯子的整个过程可以分为一系列行为片段。每个片段对应于对杯子的单个操作，记录为分别指示对象、位置和动作的两个数字和一个字母代码。这些代码描述了受试者操纵的全部范围，因此可以通过从序列中解码行为片段来追溯整个操纵过程。研究对象是三只幼年黑猩猩、三只成年黑猩猩和两名人类儿童。段为基础的分析显示，在使用三种策略（配对，锅，和子组件），以前的研究已被用作可靠的指标认知发展的发展变化。子组装被认为是人类发育中最先进的髋臼杯组合策略，其定义为将先前构建的由两个或多个髋臼杯组成的结构放置到另一个髋臼杯或髋臼杯结构中或上。三只幼年黑猩猩和两只成年黑猩猩很少表现出亚组装，而有经验的成年黑猩猩和人类则经常使用亚组装。髋臼杯状态转换的分析揭示了试验中进展和消退方面的动态过程。在人类和黑猩猩中，表现出渐进式转变模式的趋势与使用子组件策略有关。此外，一个案例研究的九杯操纵黑猩猩报告通过顺序代码。综上所述，这些数据清楚地表明了所提出的符号系统在描述受试者在嵌套杯任务中的表现方面的潜力。
The nesting-cup task has been used to assess cognitive capability in humans as well as non-human primates. Previous studies have attempted to highlight interesting aspects of behavior by constructing and assessing various categories of manipulation. The present study introduces a new notation system for describing manipulation in nesting-cup tasks in the form of sequential codes. Following this notation, the entire process of manipulating cups can be divided into a sequence of behavioral segments. Each segment corresponds to a single manipulation of a cup, recorded as two numerical and one letter codes indicating object, location, and action, respectively. These codes describe the full extent of the subjects' manipulation, which can thus be traced retrospectively in its entirety by decoding the behavioral segments from the sequence. The subjects were three infant chimpanzees, three adult chimpanzees, and two human children. Segment-based analysis revealed developmental changes in the use of three strategies (pairing, pot, and subassembly), which previous studies have used as reliable indicators of cognitive development. Subassembly, regarded as the most advanced strategy for combining cups in human development, is defined as the placing of a previously constructed structure consisting of two or more cups into or onto another cup or cup structure. The three infant chimpanzees and two adult chimpanzees rarely showed subassembly, in contrast with frequent use by experienced adult chimpanzees and humans. Analysis of transition in cup state revealed a dynamic process in terms of progression and regression within a trial. The tendency to show progressive patterns of transition was related to the use of the subassembly strategy in both humans and chimpanzees. In addition, a case study of nine-cup manipulation by a chimpanzee is reported through sequential codes. Taken together, these data clearly demonstrate the potential of the proposed notation system in describing subjects' performance in nesting-cup tasks.