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Spontaneous Innovation for Future Deception in a Male Chimpanzee. By Mathais Osvath and Elin Karvonen Presented by Zoe Vais. Background: Planning. Human planning: evolved from increasingly complex social environments Planning is a good evolutionary strategy Low cost
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Spontaneous Innovation for Future Deception in a Male Chimpanzee By Mathais Osvath and Elin Karvonen Presented by Zoe Vais
Background: Planning • Human planning: evolved from increasingly complex social environments • Planning is a good evolutionary strategy • Low cost • Previous studies showed that chimps were unable to plan for future exchange with humans
Background: Foresight • Episodic Memory: remembering, mental constructs of possible future events • Episodic foresight in animals? • Is this observed future-oriented behavior simply a rehearsal of an entire previous experience? or • is it a mental recombining of past experiences to create novel situations?
Background: Deception and Innovation • Tactical deception: • When a familiar or normally honest signal is used in a new and misleading way • Innovation: • When an existing signal or other behavior is used in a novel way
Background: previous report • Key findings: • Prepares for future throwing even when visitors are outside of perceptual field • Appeared to be a separation between emotional states: calm when collecting/storing, agitated when throwing • Indication of foresight in the episodic system • Not associative learning alone
Methods • Subject: • Santino, born in 1978 • Varied groups, both male/female, different ages • Became dominant male at age 16, now the only male • 2010: • Preseason (sporadic groups) • general season (constant visitors) • Ethics: monkey throwing things at people
Methods • Two principle methods: • Direct behavioral observations • Recovery of projectiles from the area at the end of the day • Measuring: • Throws and throw attempts: recorded as the position from which the throw was executed. • Hiding: recorded when observer clearly saw at east one projectile being placed out of view.
Methods • Recovering projectiles: • At the end of each day, remaining projectiles and hiding spots were documented and removed • Discovered that log concealments may be chance • Two controls: • Scan concrete areas, locate broken concrete • inspected the color
Results • Indicates intentional deception and innovation • Deception • Deception: creating a neutral image • Inhibiting aggressive intent in order to get closer • Innovation • Invented a concealment spot using hay in a novel way
Results • 4 hidings directly observed • Twice the hay was placed on top • Twice the projectile was placed under hay • 35 out of 45 total recovered projectiles were concealed • Concrete controls: • 18 projectiles found behind 2 of 10 loose concrete spots • At least four did not originate in those spots • Intention: • Did not show display any of the 8 times throwing from concealment • Displayed 7 out of 8 times throwing from visibility • These results are significant
Three concealments: hay (15), logs (18), protruding rock (2)
Three concealments: hay (15), logs (18), protruding rock (2)
Discussion • Intentional Deception • No hay concealments were hidden behind other concealments • Projectiles had been placed • Concealed projectiles could only be seen from chimp’s POV or not at all • Throws from concealment were not preceded with dominance display • Concealing behaviors were not observed when anyone was in the chimp’s view.
Discussion • Less clear: • Why use hay for concealment? • What prompted these behaviors? • Gain: • Use more projectiles in short succession • Throw from close range • Looks like “recombining of components” of past experiences, similar to humans. • Maybe social planning in general is not out of reach for chimps……
This chimp demonstrates social planning skills while celebrating the possibility that he has social planning skills.
Discussion • Theory of Mind? • Probably not: could be explained as line of gaze • Detached perceptual constructs of others’ behavior • Episodic system: simulate others in potential future situations