Abstract
This study investigated the ability of a captive chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) to recognise when he is being imitated. In the experimental condition of test 1a, an experimenter imitated the postures and behaviours of the chimpanzee as they were being displayed. In three control conditions the same experimenter exhibited (1) actions that were contingent on, but different from, the actions of the chimpanzee, (2) actions that were not contingent on, and different from, the actions of the chimpanzee, or (3) no action at all. The chimpanzee showed more “testing” sequences (i.e., systematically varying his actions while oriented to the imitating experimenter) and more repetitive behaviour when he was being imitated, than when he was not. This finding was replicated 4 months later in test 1b. When the experimenter repeated the same actions she displayed in the experimental condition of test 1a back to the chimpanzee in test 2, these actions now did not elicit those same testing sequences or repetitive behaviours. However, a live imitation condition did. Together these results provide the first evidence of imitation recognition in a nonhuman animal.
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Notes
A humorous example of the Marx Brothers showing this type of behaviour can be viewed at: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA01/Cober/marx/mirrormovie.html.
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Acknowledgements
A University of Queensland Early Career Research Grant (122524853) to M.N. and an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant (DP0208300) to T.S. funded the work described in this article. We also wish to acknowledge the kind cooperation of the staff of the Rockhampton Botanical and Zoological Gardens. These experiments comply with the current laws of Australia regarding the use of animals in research.
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Nielsen, M., Collier-Baker, E., Davis, J.M. et al. Imitation recognition in a captive chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). Anim Cogn 8, 31–36 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-004-0232-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-004-0232-0