Evidence of means-end behavior in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus)
Evidence of means-end behavior in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus)
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DOI：
10.1007/s10071-007-0126-z
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发表时间：
2008-04-01
期刊：
影响因子：
2.7
通讯作者：
Hasegawa, Toshikazu
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Irie-Sugimoto, Naoko;Kobayashi, Tessei;Hasegawa, Toshikazu
本研究探讨亚洲象在多大程度上表现出“手段-目的”行为。我们使用圈养的亚洲象（N = 2）进行四种变化的皮亚杰的“支持”的问题，其中涉及一个目标对象，是遥不可及的，但依赖于一个支持范围内。在第一种情况下，大象同时拥有两个相同的托盘作为“支持”，其中一个托盘上有诱饵，另一个托盘是空的。在接下来的两个条件下，诱饵被放置在一个托盘上，而额外的诱饵被放置在另一个托盘旁边。在最后一个条件下，两个托盘都装有诱饵，但其中一个托盘有一个小缺口，阻止大象到达奖励。要求受试者用躯干选择并拉动任一托盘，以获得诱饵（即目标）。结果表明，一个大象执行所有的支持问题显着以上的机会后，几个会议，这表明大象能够理解，拉托盘是“手段”实现“目的”获得诱饵。这项研究表明，大象在接受皮亚杰的“支持”任务时会表现出手段-目的行为，并表明这种目标导向行为发生在灵长类动物以外的物种中。
The present study explores to what extent Asian elephants show "means-end" behavior. We used captive Asian elephants (N = 2) to conduct four variations of the Piagetian "support" problem, which involves a goal object that is out of reach, but rests on a support within reach. In the first condition, elephants were simultaneously presented with two identical trays serving as the "support", with the bait on one tray and the other tray left empty. In the next two conditions, the bait was placed on one tray, while additional bait was placed beside the other tray. In the last condition, both trays contained bait, but one of the trays had a small gap which prevented the elephants from reaching the reward. Subjects were required to choose and pull either tray with their trunk and to obtain the bait (i.e. goal). Results showed that one elephant performed all of the support problems significantly above chance after several sessions, suggesting that the elephant was capable of understanding that pulling the tray was the "means" for achieving the "end" of obtaining the bait. This study showed that elephants show means-end behavior when subjected to a Piagetian "support" task, and indicates that such goal-directed behavior occurs in species other than primates.