Do humans ape? Or do apes human? Imitation and intention in humans (Homo sapiens) and other animals.

@article{Horowitz2003DoHA,
  title={Do humans ape? Or do apes human? Imitation and intention in humans (Homo sapiens) and other animals.},
  author={Alexandra Horowitz},
  journal={Journal of comparative psychology},
  year={2003},
  volume={117 3},
  pages={
          325-36
        }
}
  • Alexandra Horowitz
  • Published 1 September 2003
  • Psychology, Biology
  • Journal of comparative psychology
A. Whiten, D. M. Custance, J.-C. Gomez, P. Teixidor, and K. A. Bard (1996) tested chimpanzees' (Pan troglodytes) and human children's (Homo sapiens) skills at imitation with a 2-action test on an "artificial fruit." Chimpanzees imitated to a restricted degree; children were more thoroughly imitative. Such results prompted some to assert that the difference in imitation indicates a difference in the subjects' understanding of the intentions of the demonstrator (M. Tomasello, 1996). In this… 

Figures and Tables from this paper

Copying results and copying actions in the process of social learning: chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and human children (Homo sapiens)
TLDR
The procedure used was similar in many ways to the procedure that Meltzoff (Dev Psych 31:1, 1995) used to study the understanding of others’ unfulfilled intentions, and the implications of these findings with regard to chimpanzees’ understanding ofOthers’ intentions are discussed.
The imitation faculty in monkeys: evaluating its features, distribution and evolution
TLDR
It is suggested that monkeys can learn novel cognitive rules but not novel motor rules, possibly because such skills require derived neural specializations mediating the planning and coordination of gross motor movements.
Push or Pull: Imitation vs. Emulation in Great Apes and Human Children
All four species of great apes and young human children (12–24 mo of age) were administered an imitation task designed to distinguish between results learning (emulation) and action learning
Causal knowledge and imitation/emulation switching in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and children (Homo sapiens)
TLDR
It is suggested that the difference in performance of chimpanzees and children may be due to a greater susceptibility of children to cultural conventions, perhaps combined with a differential focus on the results, actions and goals of the demonstrator.
Understanding of visual attention by adult humans (Homo sapiens): a partial replication of Povinelli, Bierschwale, and Cech (1999).
TLDR
Povinelli, Bierschwale, and Cech's assertion that the generalization of pointing to gaze is indicative of a high-level framework was not supported by the findings, and the validity of their experimental design is challenged.
From over-imitation to super-copying: adults imitate causally irrelevant aspects of tool use with higher fidelity than young children.
TLDR
It is suggested that people may become more imitative as they mature, whilst selectively copying particular models with a high level of fidelity, and this combination of faithful copying and selectivity underwrites the powerful social learning necessary for the level of cultural transmission on which the authors' species depends.
The direct perception hypothesis: perceiving the intention of another’s action hinders its precise imitation
TLDR
It is argued that imitation is a learning response to unintelligible actions, especially to social conventions, and it is hypothesized that apes’ propensity to copy the goal of an action, rather than its precise means, is largely dependent on its perceived intelligibility.
The Social Side of Imitation Harriet Over and
Children’s imitation is a profoundly social process. Although previous developmental accounts of imitation have focused on imitation as a way to learn from others, the current article stresses that
The effects of changes in the referential problem space of infants and toddlers (Homo sapiens): Implications for cross-species comparisons.
TLDR
Human children with versions of the object-choice task used with dogs and nonhuman primates were tested to see if manipulating the setup would lead to behavioral changes, which revealed within-species differences in behavioral responses for cross-species comparisons.
The Social Side of Imitation Harriet Over and Malinda Carpenter
Children’s imitation is a profoundly social process. Although previous developmental accounts of imitation have focused on imitation as a way to learn from others, the current article stresses that
...
1
2
3
4
5
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 32 REFERENCES
Studies of imitation in chimpanzees and children.
CHAPTER 15 – Do Apes Ape?
CHAPTER 11 – An Analysis of Imitative Learning in Animals
Can Young Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes) Imitate Arbitrary Actions? Hayes & Hayes (1952) Revisited
TLDR
It is concluded that after a period of tuition chimpanzees can go on to imitate arbitrary actions, providing evidence of a basic cognitive capacity for perspective-taking and cross-modal matching.
CHAPTER 17 – Genuine Imitation?
How do apes ape?
TLDR
Together, these studies suggest that apes ape by employing a portfolio of alternative social-learning processes in flexibly adaptive ways, in conjunction with nonsocial learning.
Imitative learning of artificial fruit processing in children (Homo sapiens) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).
TLDR
To the authors' knowledge, this is the first experimental evidence of chimpanzee imitation in a functional task designed to simulate foraging behavior hypothesized to be transmitted culturally in the wild.
Social learning in animals : the roots of culture
Social Learning: B.G. Galef, Jr., Introduction. J. Terkel, Cultural Transmission of Feeding Behavior in the Black Rat (Rattus rattus). B.G. Galef, Jr., Social Enhancement of Food Preferences in
Imitative learning by captive western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) in a simulated food-processing task.
TLDR
Video analysis of gorillas' behavior showed a significant tendency to copy the observed technique on 1 of the individual defenses and the direction of removal on another defense, the first statistically reliable evidence of imitation in gorillas.
...
1
2
3
4
...