The Symbolic Monkey?

[agent46]

The Symbolic Monkey? Animals Can Comprehend And Use Symbols, Study Of Tufted Capuchins Suggests
ScienceDaily (Jun. 11, 2008)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080610212404.htm

From paintings and photographs to coins and credit cards, we are constantly surrounded by symbolic artefacts. The mental representation of symbols -- objects that arbitrarily represent other objects -- ultimately affords the development of language, and certainly played a decisive role in the evolution of our hominid ancestors. Can other animal species also comprehend and use symbols? Some evidence suggests that apes, our closest relatives, can indeed use symbols in various contexts. However, little is known about the symbolic competence of phylogenetically more distant species.

A new study presents evidence of symbolic reasoning in tufted capuchin monkeys, a South-American species that diverged from humans about 35 million years ago. In the experiment, five capuchins engaged in "economic choice" behavior. Each monkey chose between three different foods (conventionally referred to A, B and C), offered in variable amounts. Choices were made in two different contexts. In the "real" context, monkeys chose between the actual foods. In the "symbolic" context, monkeys chose between "tokens" (intrinsically valueless objects such as poker chips) that represented the actual foods. After choosing one of the two token options, monkeys could exchange their token with the corresponding food.

The researchers examined whether capuchins' preferences in both real and symbolic contexts satisfy transitivity -- a fundamental trait of rational decision-making, according to which if A is preferred to B, and B is preferred to C, then A must be preferred to C.

Capuchins' choices did satisfy transitivity, both in the real context and in the symbolic context. Capuchins systematically preferred item A to B, item B to C, and item A to C both with tokens and with the actual foods. Hence, their preferences were qualitatively similar in both contexts. Quantitatively, however, expressing choices in the symbolic context increased the value distance between the corresponding foods.

Aside from the powerful implications this might have for interspecies communication, this capacity for so-called "'economic choice' behavior" sounds a lot like good old fashioned primate capitalism to me. Shhh! Don't tell the "free-marketers" science has finally exposed them!
:yoiks:
mick

[acmavm]

1. Too bad the monkey in the White House wasnt a tufted capuchin.

In fact I've always felt like we were slandering primates everywhere when we compare that numb-from-the-neck-up two-legged freakshow to them.

[Indenturedebtor]

2. Capitalism and problem solving indeed

The very idea that most social, problem solving mammals don't use symbolism is rediculous. If an animal can mentally manipulate objects well enough to remember where something is, or to plan a series of actions to achieve a desired goal, it has to be forming representations of those objects and actions in it's mind. Further if the creature is manipulating YOU (as pretty much all dogs and cats do), to recieve an unseen reward, how could it possibly do so without planning, abstraction, and object permanence?

It's good to see research being done on such things, but I am not even slightly surprised.

[valerief]

4. Absolutely. Just trying throwing a pretend ball for a dog.

The dog will go after it like a working class Republican voter does when he hears the word God out of the mouth of a candidate.

[Indenturedebtor]

5. Lol well said sir well said - speaking of dogs

My dog actually knows the following words -


Nouns-

Cheese
Mommy
Daddy
Pig
Ball
Bone
Biscuit
Chewy
Bunny
Bed
Inside
Outside
Walk (as in A walk)
Park
Steggy (Stegosaurus doll)

Verbs-

Speak
Hush
Get
Hide
Go
Where (find)
Sit
Up (stand)
Boost
Catch
Lie Down

--------------

It's our first dog so we didn't train him with hand signals. He responds appropriately to every command. He will hide his indidvidual toys or retrieve them on command, he'll go get his mommy out of bed for me, he walks to the car when I ask him if he wants to go to the park, go where his leash is when I ask him if he wants to go for a walk, lift his back leg for a boost when I ask him if he wants one to get on the couch, and so on.

The dude understands a lot of english, and maintains a mental framework of items associated with actions etc. How could you possibly understand language without symbolism. For that matter I can point at things and he'll go investigate them. (That one took him a couple years to pick up).

And I mean hell, look at the elephant paintings

[patrice]

3. I'm having a little difficulty with "free marketers" being exposed by this.

The capuchins picked the value-less symbol as a means by which to obtain the valued food. Doesn't that mean that whatever the "free market" can associate with real value, no matter how indirect, will work?

What does ". . . increased the value distance between the corresponoding foods." mean?