Spontaneous categorization of tools based on observation in children and chimpanzees.

ABSTRACT: The acquisition of the concept of 'tool' remains intriguing from both developmental and comparative perspectives. Our current model of tool use development in children is based on humans' supposedly unique ability to adopt a teleological stance: the understanding of a demonstrator's goal-based intentions when using a tool. It is however unclear how children and chimpanzees, our closest relatives, combine their knowledge of different objects whose function is to act on other parts of the environment, and assign them to a single category of 'tools'. Here, we used a function-based approach to address this question. We exposed 7 to 11-year-old children and adult chimpanzees to a Matching-to-Function (MTF) task to explore whether they would sort tools and non-tools separately after demonstratio

SUBMITTER: Gruber T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6890762 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature