Horner-Whiten (2005)

Question 1

Abstract?

Answer 1

• explored whether the tendency of chimpanzees and children to use emulation or imitation to solve a tool-using task was a response to the availability of causal information
• switched to puzzle boxes with tools as its more ethical than physical violence and allows comparisons to be made
• is an example of comparative psychology = studying the similarities and differences in behaviour between different animal species

Question 2

Introduction?

Answer 2

• Predicted that when appropriate causal information about the task was available (transparent condition), participants would be able to differentiate between the relevant and irrelevant parts of a demonstration
• However, if the task was presented in an opaque condition, so that access to causal information was restricted, we predicted that participants would perform a greater proportion of the demonstrated irrelevant actions, consistent with imitation

Question 3

Exp 1?

Answer 3

• 12 chimpanzees
• 1 clear + 1 opaque box
• subjects observed a human demonstrator use the tool to retrieve a food reward from one of the boxes using irrelevant actions and relevant actions

Question 4

Exp 4?

Answer 4

• 16 children
• same box used as in experiment 1 but adapted slightly

Question 5

Results?

Answer 5

• When the opaque puzzle box was presented first the chimpanzees and children copied both relevant and irrelevant actions because they couldn’t tell
• When the chimpanzees were then presented with the transparent box they dropped the irrelevant actions straight away but the children carried on with the irrelevant actions
• When the transparent box was presented first the chimpanzees didn’t perform any irrelevant actions even in the opaque condition afterwards but the children did = over imitation
• Children relied strongly on imitation to retrieve the reward in both condition

Question 6

Conclusion?

Answer 6

• humans may be unique in the extent to which they imitate others
• emulation is the favoured strategy of chimpanzees when they understand the causal components of a task
• results suggest that the availability of causal information can play an important role in chimpanzee social learning, by determining which learning strategy is employed
• in contrast children did not seem to consider the causal relevance of their behaviour, and imitation was the preferred social learning strategy regardless of the availability of causal information

Question 7

Pro’s of the study?

Answer 7

• comparative study with the same tasks for different species - hard to do
• very controlled study

Question 8

Cons of the study?

Answer 8

• small sample - 12 chimpanzees + 16 children
• may not be fair as both children and chimpanzees observed a human demonstrator