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Apes communicate about absent and displaced objects: methodology matters

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 14:45 authored by Heidi Lyn, Jamie L Russell, David LeavensDavid Leavens, Kim A Bard, Sarah T Boysen, Jennifer A Schaeffer, William D Hopkins
Displaced reference is the ability to refer to an item that has been moved (displaced) in space and/or time, and has been called one of the true hallmarks of referential communication. Several studies suggest that nonhuman primates have this capability, but a recent experiment concluded that in a specific situation (absent entities) human infants display displaced reference but chimpanzees do not. Here we show that chimpanzees and bonobos of diverse rearing histories are capable of displaced reference to absent and displaced objects. It is likely that some of the conflicting findings from animal cognition studies are due to relatively minor methodological differences, but are compounded by interpretation errors. Comparative studies are of great importance in elucidating the evolution of human cognition, however, greater care must be taken with methodology and interpretation for these studies to accurately reflect species differences.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Animal Cognition

ISSN

1435-9456

Publisher

Elsevier

Issue

1

Volume

17

Page range

85-94

Department affiliated with

  • Psychology Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2013-05-30

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    University of Sussex (Publications)

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