Article
Details
Citation
Anderson J, Kuwahata H & Fujita K (2007) Gaze alternation during ¡°pointing¡± by squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus)?. Animal Cognition, 10 (2), pp. 267-271. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-006-0065-0
Abstract
Gaze alternation (GA) is considered a hallmark of pointing in human infants, a sign of intentionality underlying the gesture. GA has occasionally been observed in great apes, and reported only anecdotally in a few monkeys. Three squirrel monkeys that had previously learned to reach toward out-of-reach food in the presence of a human partner were videotaped while the latter visually attended to the food, a distractor object, or the ceiling. Frame-by-frame video analysis revealed that, especially when reaching toward the food, the monkeys rapidly and repeatedly switched between looking at the partner¡¯s face and the food. This type of GA suggests that the monkeys were communicating with the partner. However, the monkeys¡¯ behavior was not influenced by changes in the partner¡¯s focus of attention.
Keywords
animal behaviour; animal cognition; gaze; monkeys; Gaze (Psychology); Squirrel monkeys; Cognition in animals; Monkeys Behavior
Journal
Animal Cognition: Volume 10, Issue 2
| Status | Published |
|---|---|
| Publication date | 30/04/2007 |
| Date accepted by journal | 20/11/2006 |
| URL | |
| Publisher | Springer |
| ISSN | 1435-9448 |
| eISSN | 1435-9456 |