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Apes communicate about absent and displaced objects: methodology matters

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Abstract

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.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the staff at YNPRC and Bill Fields and the research staff at GATI for their assistance in data collection. American Psychological Association and Institute of Medicine guidelines for the ethical treatment of animals were adhered to during all phases of this study. Funding for this study was provided by NIH grants NS-42867, HD-56232, HD-60563 and The Leverhulme Trust F/00 678/O.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Southern Mississippi, Gulf Coast 730 East Beach Blvd., Long Beach, MS, 39560, USA

    Heidi Lyn

  2. Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Jamie L. Russell, Jennifer A. Schaeffer & William D. Hopkins

  3. University of Sussex, Falmer, UK

    David A. Leavens

  4. University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK

    Kim A. Bard

  5. The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    Sarah T. Boysen

  6. Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    William D. Hopkins

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  1. Heidi Lyn
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Correspondence to Heidi Lyn.

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Lyn, H., Russell, J.L., Leavens, D.A. et al. Apes communicate about absent and displaced objects: methodology matters. Anim Cogn 17, 85–94 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-013-0640-0

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