The Mentalities of Gorillas and Orangutans : Comparative Perspectives

Research on the mental abilities of chimpanzees and bonobos has been widely celebrated and used in reconstructions of human evolution. In contrast, less attention has been paid to the abilities of gorillas and orangutans. This 1999 volume aims to help complete the picture of hominoid cognition by bringing together the work on gorillas and orangutans and setting it in comparative perspective. The introductory chapters set the evolutionary context for comparing cognition in gorillas and orangutans to that of chimpanzees, bonobos and humans. The remaining chapters focus primarily on the kinds and levels of intelligence displayed by orangutans and gorillas compared to other great apes, including performances in the classic domains of tool use and tool making, imitation, self-awareness, social communication and symbol use. All those wanting more information on the mental abilities of these sometimes neglected, but important primates will find this book a treasure trove. The Mentalities of Gorillas and Orangutans......Page 1 Contents......Page 6 Contributors......Page 8 Preface......Page 10 Acknowledgments......Page 12 PART I: Comparative evolutionary and developmental perspectives on gorillas and orangutans......Page 14 INTRODUCTION......Page 16 BACKGROUND TO CLADISTIC APPROACHES......Page 17 WHAT IS A HOMINID, NOWADAYS?......Page 24 WHAT IS AN ORANGUTAN, ANYWAY?......Page 26 Molecular approaches......Page 27 Morphological approaches......Page 36 How many species of Pan?......Page 39 CONCLUSIONS ON THE TAXONOMY AND ANCESTRY OF THE GREAT APES.......Page 40 The ancestral hominid morphotype......Page 41 The ancestral hominine morphotype......Page 42 The ancestral hominini morphotype......Page 43 The ancestral pongine and gorillini morphotypes......Page 44 The future......Page 45 REFERENCES......Page 46 2 SUE T. PARKER - The life history and development of great apes in comparative perspective......Page 56 ADAPTIVE ARRAYS OF PRIMATES......Page 58 The Great Apes......Page 64 Development in Great Apes and Humans......Page 68 Brain development......Page 69 Body size......Page 70 Motor development......Page 71 The Lesser Apes......Page 74 The Macaque Monkeys......Page 76 The Cebus Monkeys......Page 78 REFERENCES......Page 79 INTRODUCTION......Page 83 FRONTAL LOBE AND COGNITIVE PROCESSES......Page 84 Sulcal patterns......Page 89 Asymmetries of the frontal lobe structures......Page 93 SIZE OF THE BRAIN AND THE FRONTAL LOBE......Page 94 Contemporary applications of imaging techniques......Page 95 INTERNAL ORGANIZATION OF THE FRONTAL LOBE......Page 97 Areas 13 and 10 of the prefrontal cortex......Page 98 CONCLUDING REMARKS......Page 103 REFERENCES......Page 105 PART II: Cognition and tool use in gorillas and orangutans......Page 110 INTRODUCTION......Page 112 STUDY AREA AND METHODS......Page 113 Contexts of tool use......Page 114 The orangutan tool kit: seed-extraction and insect-extraction tools......Page 116 Variation among insect-extraction tools......Page 117 Insect-extraction tools......Page 118 Seed-extraction tools......Page 120 Learning tool behavior......Page 122 DISCUSSION......Page 123 Origin and maintenance of tool behavior at Suaq Balimbing......Page 124 Limited invention hypothesis......Page 125 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 126 REFERENCES......Page 127 5 ANNE E. RUSSON - Orangutans’ imitation of tool use: a cognitive interpretation......Page 130 TOOL USE AND IMITATION GOVERNED BY GREAT APE COGNITION......Page 131 Hierarchization......Page 132 Tool use......Page 134 Human imitation......Page 135 Great ape cognition......Page 136 IMITATION OF TOOL USE IN ORANGUTANS......Page 138 1. The Tomasello group......Page 139 2. Russon......Page 140 3. Meinel......Page 141 4. Miles......Page 142 Observational data......Page 143 Sharpening an axe blade......Page 144 Siphoning......Page 147 Sweeping......Page 148 ORANGUTANS COMPARED WITH OTHER GREAT APES......Page 150 DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION......Page 152 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 153 REFERENCES......Page 154 NATURAL HISTORY......Page 160 ECOLOGY......Page 161 Complexity and laterality......Page 163 Organization and control......Page 166 DISCUSSION......Page 168 REFERENCES......Page 170 INTRODUCTION......Page 173 SENSORIMOTOR INTELLIGENCE IN NONHUMAN PRIMATES......Page 174 THE PRESENT STUDY......Page 176 Results: tool-use and problem-solving......Page 177 Roundabout behaviors......Page 178 Tools as hand extensions......Page 179 EXPLORATORY MANIPULATIONS OF OBJECTS......Page 182 Results......Page 184 OBJECT EXPLORATION AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT......Page 186 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS......Page 188 REFERENCES......Page 189 8 SARAH T. BOYSEN, VALERIE A. KUHLMEIER, PETER HALLIDAY, AND YOLANDA M. HALLIDAY - Tool use in captive gorillas......Page 192 METHODS......Page 194 RESULTS......Page 195 DISCUSSION......Page 196 REFERENCES......Page 198 INTRODUCTION......Page 201 NATURE OF THE SURVEY......Page 202 RESULTS OF THE SURVEY......Page 203 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 205 REFERENCES......Page 206 PART III: Communication in gorillas and orangutans......Page 208 SPEECH STUDIES......Page 210 SIGN-LANGUAGE STUDIES......Page 212 VISUAL SYMBOL STUDIES......Page 215 A COMPARISON OF GREAT APE LANGUAGE ABILITIES......Page 217 REFERENCES......Page 220 11 JOANNE E. TANNER AND RICHARD W. BYRNE - The development of spontaneous gestural communication in a group of zoo-living lowland gorillas......Page 224 GENERAL METHODOLOGY......Page 225 GROUP HISTORY AND STUDY PERIODS......Page 227 CLASSIFICATION OF GESTURES......Page 229 KUBIE’S GESTURES......Page 233 GESTURAL REPERTOIRE OVER THE LONG TERM......Page 234 Change in gestural repertoire with different social partners......Page 236 Individual differences in gesturing in brothers at the same age......Page 238 Developmental changes in gesturing in the individual......Page 239 The development of iconic gestures......Page 241 Development of gestures over the life of an individual......Page 244 Gorillas in the wild, zoo gorillas, signing apes, and humans: differences and similarities in gesture use......Page 246 REFERENCES......Page 248 12 JOHN D. BONVILLIAN AND FRANCINE G. P. PATTERSON - Early sign-language acquisition: comparisons between children and gorillas......Page 253 The gorillas......Page 254 Human participants......Page 255 Research program differences......Page 256 Rate of early vocabulary acquisition......Page 258 Cross-species comparisons of vocabulary content......Page 261 ICONICITY AND SIGN ACQUISITION......Page 264 NONSIGN GESTURAL PRECURSORS OF LANGUAGE......Page 267 Koko’s nonsign gesture production......Page 269 REFERENTIAL LANGUAGE......Page 270 CONCLUDING REMARKS......Page 273 REFERENCES......Page 274 Training sessions......Page 278 Types of responses......Page 279 Signs trained......Page 280 Testing......Page 281 RESULTS......Page 282 Methodological concerns......Page 285 Vocabulary......Page 286 Signed exchanges......Page 287 Signing errors during training......Page 288 Comparison with a younger orangutan......Page 289 Subject motivation and attitude......Page 290 SUMMARY......Page 291 REFERENCES......Page 292 PART IV: Social cognition in gorillas and orangutans......Page 294 14 KARYL B. SWARTZ, DENA SARAUW, AND SIÂN EVANS - Comparative aspects of mirror self-recognition in great apes......Page 296 REFERENCES......Page 304 15 ROBERT W. MITCHELL - Deception and concealment as strategic script violation in great apes and humans......Page 308 SCRIPTS IN HUMANS......Page 309 SCRIPTS IN GREAT APES......Page 311 METHOD......Page 312 RESULTS......Page 314 TYPES OF BEHAVIOR USED FOR DECEIT......Page 316 DISCUSSION......Page 320 REFERENCES......Page 323 INTRODUCTION......Page 329 Observational studies......Page 331 Experimental studies......Page 333 Studies of imitation of gestures and body movements......Page 339 DISSECTING IMITATION......Page 342 Contrasting imitation in the ‘‘Do this’’ task and in problem-solving situations......Page 344 Components and levels of imitation in triadic situations......Page 347 IMITATION IN RELATION TO OTHER FORMS OF LEARNING......Page 349 CONCLUSION......Page 351 REFERENCES......Page 352 INTRODUCTION......Page 355 THE INEVITABLE ANTHROPOCENTRIC PERSPECTIVE......Page 356 1. Physical support of crawling......Page 360 2. Tugging......Page 361 5. Dangling......Page 362 COMPARISON WITH SCAFFOLDING FUNCTIONS AS DESCRIBED BY WOOD ET AL., 1976......Page 365 COMPARISON WITH SCAFFOLDING FUNCTIONS AS DESCRIBED BY WHITEN AND MILNER, 1984......Page 367 Are apes educators?......Page 369 Is ‘‘scaffolding’’ in apes an occasional by-product of their advanced social cognition?......Page 370 1. Perceiving attempts (‘‘trying to’’)......Page 374 2. Perceiving ignorance......Page 375 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 376 REFERENCES......Page 377 Setting......Page 380 Analytic frameworks and methodology......Page 381 Diagnosing Play......Page 382 Phases of play development in an infant gorilla......Page 387 Imitation and showing-off games......Page 398 Development of social roles......Page 399 A note on variations in social play......Page 402 REFERENCES......Page 404 PART V: Epilogue......Page 408 THE CLADISTIC APPROACH TO PHYLOGENETIC RECONSTRUCTION......Page 410 LIFE HISTORY PATTERNS......Page 411 SOCIAL ORGANIZATION AND MATING PATTERNS......Page 412 COGNITIVE ABILITIES......Page 414 Imitation......Page 415 Language and iconicity......Page 418 PLAY, SOCIALIZATION, AND ENCULTURATION......Page 419 CONCLUSIONS: PRECHIMPANZEE ORIGINS OF COGNITIVE ABILITIES IN GREAT APES......Page 420 REFERENCES......Page 421 Index of authors......Page 425 Index of subjects......Page 429 Hominid Family Values / David R. Begun -- The Life History And Development Of Great Apes In Comparative Perspective / Sue T. Parker -- The Frontal Lobes Of The Great Apes With A Focus On The Gorilla And The Orangutan / Katerina Semendeferi -- Intelligent Tool Use In Wild Sumatran Orangutans / Elizabeth A. Fox, Arnold F. Sitompul, Carel P. Van Schaik -- Orangutans' Imitation Of Tool Use / Anne E. Russon -- Object Manipulation And Skill Organization In The Complex Food Preparation Of Mountain Gorillas / Richard W. Byrne -- Development Of Sensorimotor Intelligence In Infant Gorillas / Juan C. Gómez -- Tool Use In Captive Gorillas / Sarah R. Boysen ... [et Al.] -- A Survey Of Tool Use In Zoo Gorillas / Sue T. Parker ... [et Al.]. Symbolic Communication With And By Great Apes / H. Lyn Miles -- The Development Of Spontaneous Gestural Communication In A Group Of Zoo-living Lowland Gorillas / Joanne E. Tanner, Richard W. Byrne -- Early Sign-language Acquisition / John B. Bonvillian, Francine G.p. Patterson -- Early Sign Performance In A Free-ranging, Adult Orangutan / Gary L. Shapriro, Biruté M.f. Galdikas -- Comparative Aspects Of Mirror Self-recognition In Great Apes / Karyl B. Swartz, Dena Sarauw, Siân Evans -- Deception And Concealment As Strategic Script Violation In Great Apes And Humans / Robert W. Mitchell -- Levels Of Imitation And Cognitive Mechanisms In Orangutans / Joseph Call. Parental Encouragement In Gorilla In Comparative Perspective / Andrew Whiten -- The Developement Of Social Roles In The Play Of An Infant Gorilla And Its Relationship To Sensorimotor Intellectual Development / Sue T. Parker -- The Mentalities Of Gorillas And Orangutans In Phylogenetic Perspective / Sue T. Parker, Robert W. Mitchell. Edited By Sue Taylor Parker, Robert W. Mitchell, H. Lyn Miles. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes. Research on the mental abilities of chimpanzees and bonobos has been widely celebrated and used in reconstructions of human evolution. In contrast, scant attention has been paid to the abilities of gorillas and orangutans. This volume aims to complete the picture of hominoid cognition by bringing together the work on gorillas and orangutans and setting it in comparative perspective. This book's introductory chapters set the evolutionary context for comparing cognition in gorillas and orangutans to that of chimpanzees, bonobos, and humans. The remaining chapters focus primarily on the kinds and levels of intelligence displayed by orangutans and gorillas compared to other great apes, including performances in the classic domains of tool use and tool making, imitation, self awareness, social communication, and symbol use.

this Interesting Study Sets Gorilla And Orangutan Cognitive Abilities In Context With The Other Great Apes And Humans.

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this Volume Begins By Setting Recent Research On Orangutans And Gorillas In A Context For Comparing It To Chimpanzees And Humans. These Introductory Pieces Are Followed By Discussions Of The Kinds And Levels Of Orangutan And Gorilla Intelligence Compared To Other Great Apes. Specialists In Anthropology, Evolution, Psychology, And Primate Research, Examine Orangutan And Gorilla Performances In Areas Such As Tool Use And Tool Making, Imitation, Self-awareness, Social Communication, And Symbol Use, And Conclude That All Great Apes Have Attributes That Have Commonly Been Associated Only With Chimpanzees. Annotation C. Book News, Inc., Portland, Or (booknews.com)

Gorillas and orangutans are closely related to humans, but their mental abilities have been largely neglected in attempts to understand how our intelligence might have evolved. This book sets all the great apes in context with humans, providing the complete picture of hominoid cognitive evolution for the first time