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MD Hauser

Publications and source records attributed to MD Hauser.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Problem solving and functional design features: experiments on cotton-top tamarins, Saguinus oedipus oedipus.

In any problem-solving situation, there are features associated with the problem that are relevant from a functional perspective and other features that are irrelevant. To determine whether animals are sensitive to the distinction between functionally relevant and irrelvant features of a problem, we conducted two main experiments with a New World monkey, the cotton-top tamarin. In the first condition of both experiments, subjects were required to pull a piece of cloth to gain access to a piece of food. The first experiment involved choosing between food that was on the cloth and food that was off the cloth. The second experiment involved choosing between food that was on a connected piece of cloth and food that was on two pieces of cloth separated by a horizontal gap. Having learned to solve either of these two problems, we conducted a series of probe conditions to determine whether the tamarins would generalize to changes in the shape, size, colour, and texture of the cloth and food, the position of the food relative to the cloth, and the type of connection between two pieces of cloth. For most of the probe conditions, the tamarins readily generalized, showing no decrement in performance, even on the first trial. For other conditions, involving apparently more subtle discrimination (e.g. a narrow vertical gap between the two pieces of cloth), explicit training was required. These results indicate that tamarins solve means-end relationships, and that their ability depends on a discrimination between properties that are functionally relevant as opposed to irrelevant. Copyright 1999 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1999

The neuroethology of primate vocal communication: substrates for the evolution of speech.

In this article, we review behavioral and neurobiological studies of the perception and use of species-specific vocalizations by non-human primates. At the behavioral level, primate vocal perception shares many features with speech perception by humans. These features include a left-hemisphere bias towards conspecific vocalizations, the use of temporal features for identifying different calls, and the use of calls to refer to objects and events in the environment. The putative neural bases for some of these behaviors have been revealed by recent studies of the primate auditory and prefrontal cortices. These studies also suggest homologies with the human language circuitry. Thus, a synthesis of cognitive, ethological and neurobiological approaches to primate vocal behavior is likely to yield the richest understanding of the neural bases of speech perception, and might also shed light on the evolutionary precursors to language.

Journal Article↗