Goal attribution to inanimate moving objects by Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata).

ABSTRACT: Humans interpret others' goals based on motion information, and this capacity contributes to our mental reasoning. The present study sought to determine whether Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) perceive goal-directedness in chasing events depicted by two geometric particles. In Experiment 1, two monkeys and adult humans were trained to discriminate between Chasing and Random sequences. We then introduced probe stimuli with various levels of correlation between the particle trajectories to examine whether participants performed the task using higher correlation. Participants chose stimuli with the highest correlations by chance, suggesting that correlations were not the discriminative cue. Experiment 2 examined whether participants focused on particle proximity. Participants differentiate

SUBMITTER: Atsumi T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5215463 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature