HEB 30 Quiz 5

What is the theory of mind?

Ability to attribute mental states (intentions, desires, knowledge, beliefs) to others

What are the 3 main points about the theory of mind?

1. Central to many human capacities (language, teaching, altruism)

2. May explain many conflictive differences between humans and non-humans

3. Poor theory of mind is widespread in humans and causes a variety of problems

What are the 2 ways to NOT give a capuchin a raisin?

1. Unwilling - experimenter holds out a raisin, then pulls it away

2. Unable - experimenter holds out a raisin, then second experimenter steals it

In which way, do the capuchins stick around longer?

When the experimenter is unable to give them a raisin

Is unequal pay acceptable with capuchins?

No. When one capuchin received a grape for an action and another capuchin only received a cucumber. The capuchin that received the cucumber started to refuse the cucumber and they began throwing it back at the experimenter.

What does the sense of fairness depend upon?

The attribution of intention

Will apes and children help a human experimenter without being rewarded?

1. Children helped in all experimental conditions (when a experimenter's hands were full, when a toy had fallen into a box)

2. Apes only helped in trials involving reaching

What happened when subjects were played threat-grunt from dominant individual after aggression?

Latency to move away from the speaker is very quick

What happened when subjects were played threat-grunt from dominant individual after grooming?

Latency to move way from the speaker is relatively slow

Do chimpanzees understand what a person with a bucket on their head can see?

No. But they understand that a person with their back turned cannot see them

Do chimpanzees produce 'alert hoos' if the other chimpanzee has seen the snake?

No

Do chimpanzees produce 'alert hoos' if the other chimpanzee has heard the snake?

No

Do chimpanzees produce 'alert hoos' if the other chimpanzee has not seen or heard the snake?

Yes

Can great apes attribute false beliefs?

Yes. Anticipatory looking tests show that the apes anticipate where a human actor will search for an object based on where the human falsely believes it is, rather than where the object actually is

What is social learning?

Learning that is influenced by observation of, or interaction with, another animal (typically a conspecific) or its products

What are the mechanisms of social learning?

1. Stimulus enhancement - observer's attention is drawn to a particular thing or location due to the behaviour of another individual exposed to a demonstrator's location/object

2. Emulation - observer learns about the goals or results of another individual's behaviour

3. Imitation - observer copies form of actions of another individual

When is nut cracking learned in chimpanzees?

1. It is learned from ages 4-6

2. They do not achieve mastery until adulthood

How is nut cracking learned in chimpanzees?

1. Individual learning

2. Stimulus enhancement

3. Emulation (possibly)

Who 'over-imitates' more: chimpanzees or human children?

Children

How do we achieve culture?

1. Social information transfer (social learning)

2. Transient effects

3. Durable group-wide effects (traditions)

4. Multiple-tradition cultures

5. Cumulative cultures

What are the 2 types of evidence for group-wide effects of social learning?

1. Experimental

2. Observational

What are the results of the Panpipes study (poke vs lift)?

Techniques are socially learned and can spread across individuals to become a group-wide behaviour

What are the 2 different methods for ant dipping?

1. Stick-to-mouth - used with more aggressive above-ground ants

2. Hand-to-mouth - used with less aggressive (sometimes) sub-terrain ants.

Why do capuchins exhibit certain rituals (hand-sniffing, eye-poking, sucking)?

1. Test social bonds

2. Strengthen social bonds

What are the 2 common things about the cultural behaviours of eye-poking, hand-sniffing, lead-clipping, squashing bugs in leaves, ant dipping, touching wounds with leaves?

1. All are able to be invented by a single individual

2. All modify species-typical behaviours

What is the Zone of Latent Solutions (ZLS)?

Primate culture stems from behaviours that are within a species' existing cognitive repertoire

What are the 4 main points about primate social learning?

1. Social learning is widespread

2. Imitation is relatively rare

3. There is evidence for different traditions/cultures across groups

4. Most socially learned behaviours are in the Zone of Latent Solutions (ZLS)

How do humans achieve cumulative culture?

1. Social learning outside of ZLS

2. 'Over-imitation' - frees individuals from the constraint of having to understand and individually learn each behaviour