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Comparative Study
. 2009 Jan;12(1):55-62.
doi: 10.1007/s10071-008-0170-3. Epub 2008 Jun 24.

Capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) respond to video images of themselves

James R Anderson  1 , Hika Kuroshima, Annika Paukner, Kazuo Fujita
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) respond to video images of themselves

James R Anderson et al. Anim Cogn. 2009 Jan.

Abstract

Many studies have used mirror-image stimulation in attempts to find self-recognition in monkeys. However, very few studies have presented monkeys with video images of themselves; the present study is the first to do so with capuchin monkeys. Six tufted capuchin monkeys were individually exposed to live face-on and side-on video images of themselves (experimental Phase 1). Both video screens initially elicited considerable interest. Two adult males looked preferentially at their face-on image, whereas two adult females looked preferentially at their side-on image; the latter elicited lateral movements and head-cocking. Only males showed communicative facial expressions, which were directed towards the face-on screen. In Phase 2 monkeys discriminated between real-time, face-on images and identical images delayed by 1 s, with the adult females especially preferring real-time images. In this phase both screens elicited facial expressions, shown by all monkeys. In Phase 3 there was no evidence of discrimination between previously recorded video images of self and similar images of a familiar conspecific. Although they showed no signs of explicit self-recognition, the monkeys' behaviour strongly suggests recognition of the correspondence between kinaesthetic information and external visual effects. In species such as humans and great apes, this type of self-awareness feeds into a system that gives rise to explicit self-recognition.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Capuchin monkeys show social responses to video images. Left: the facial expression “eyebrow raise”, elicited by the real-time, face-on image. Center: watching the delayed, face-on image while emitting “whistle series” vocalization. Right: glancing back to the real time, face-on image. See text for details.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Mean total duration of looking at real-time face-on and side-on screens across days.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Individual monkeys’ mean frequencies of looking at real-time and 1-sec-delayed images of self.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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