Comparative Psychology Spring 2014 Dr Chapman Exam 2 Essay Question Pool Weeks 6 7 Readings Mulcahy N J Call J 2006 Apes save tools for future use Science 312 1038 1040 1 Mulcahy Call conducted four experiments to examine whether apes plan for the future in the context of tool use Describe the experimental method used in each of the four studies Be specific with regards to the methods and procedures for each and be sure that your description of each clearly highlights what makes the experiment differ from the others Your description of each experiment should address what specific research question was being asked as well as the experimental method and procedures In the first experiment five bonobos and five orangutans were tested by learning how to use a tool to receive some time of reward from an object in the test room In the test room were 2 tools that could be used to get the reward and six tools that would not help They monkeys were to choose a tool while the object with the reward was blocked Then the monkeys were led out of the test room to the waiting room for one hour where they watched all the tools that were left be taken out In order to receive the reward the monkeys had to choose the correct tool for future use This experiment was design to see if the apes would use future planning by choosing the correct tool to retrieve the reward In the second experiment the time between choosing the tool and going to receive the reward was increased to fourteen hours instead of one hour like the first experiment Here one bonobo and one orangutan were tested The monkeys went into the test room chose a tool then were lead to their sleeping quarters for the night and brought back to the testing room the next morning This experiment was designed for the same reason as the first experiment except the longer delay was used In the third experiment three orangutans and three bonobos were tested Here the monkeys had to use a hook and string to get a juice box that was out of their reach After learning to use the hook the reward was taken out of the room and the monkeys were given tools that would not help get the juice and the hook Five minutes later the monkeys were taken to the waiting room and led back into the test room after an hour The monkeys were responsible for bringing the hook back into the test room with them in order to get the reward This experiment was designed to determine whether or not the apes would choose the correct tool in the absence of the reward Experiment 4 was set up the same as experiment three except they were trying to see if the monkeys would choose the correct tool without a reward being set up The monkeys were rewarded if they brought the correct tool but they were not shown the reward before when they were choosing a tool 2 What were the two species of nonhuman primates that Mulcahy Call tested in their study of planning for future tool use Provide the names of the two species Next explain why they chose to study these two specific ape species Your answer needs to explain the authors rationale for choosing each individual species How did the two species compare on performance in these experiments Based on the performance of the two species what did Mulcahy and Call conclude about the evolution of planning abilities Page 1 of 5 Comparative Psychology Spring 2014 Dr Chapman The two types of apes tested were orangutans and bonobos These two monkeys are our closest most distant ape relatives If both orangutans and bonobos showed the ability of future planning then it is possible that this skill developed before 14 million years ago If this is only shown in bonobos then it may have developed within the past 14 million years On the other hand if shown in neither ape then future planning can be strictly shown only in humans and develops about 7 million years ago In experiment one the apes succeeded an average of seven times Two orangutans brought back an unsuitable tool one and three times but broke off a piece in order to receive the reward In the second experiment neither ape brought back the tool in the first trial After that the orangutan brought back a suitable tool in all the next trials but only used it in 7 of them to get the reward The bonobo brought back a suitable tool in 8 of the 11 more trails and used it all 8 times to retrieve the reward In experiment 3 the apes succeeded on average of 6 5 trials On average they transported the correct tool more often than the wrong tool but it was not a significant difference In the fourth experiment the apes succeeded significantly less often than in experiment three Because the results could not be explained by operant learning and biological predispositions the authors concluded that future planning must have been demonstrated in the apes Since both apes demonstrated this future planning it is assumed that this skill developed more than 14 million years ago Suddendorf T Corballis M C 2010 Behavioural evidence for mental time travel in nonhuman animals Behavioural Brain Research 215 292 298 1 Explain the Bischof Kohler hypothesis in your own words Describe an experimental example from the Suddendorf and Corballis article in which the researchers claim that their research findings refuted the Bischof Kohler hypothesis Briefly describe the research question general method and overall results Finally comment on whether you believe that the results of the study you wrote about actually refute the Bischof Kohler hypothesis or not Provide support for your argument either way In general the Bischof Kohler hypothesis means that animals might only plan for the future if the future event is to satisfy something that they need right then The experiment with the apes refuted this hypothesis The authors claimed that the apes began to choose less food when they were not given water if they chose more food This demonstrated that the apes took into account their future thirst therefore less food means they get water It is so difficult to decide whether or not the experiment really refutes such a hypothesis I believe the monkeys did begin to choose less food because they were taking into account their future thirst but was this because they were just learning what to do It is impossible to know exactly what the animals are thinking therefore they really could be thirsty right then In this case the experiment would not refute the hypothesis because the apes were choosing less food in order to satisfy a current need for water 2
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