Chimpanzees attribute agency only to living forms, ignoring geometric objects
- Chimpanzees only respond to monkey-like virtual objects.
- Geometric shapes, even moving ones, hardly elicit any reaction.
- Morphology serves as the main criterion for determining agency.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge, the Max Planck Institute, and the University of California jointly studied how chimpanzees determine the presence of agency in other beings. To do this, they created a virtual platform where animals could receive food rewards, but only if their path was not blocked by virtual competitors.
Virtual stimuli
Two types of objects were used as obstacles: 'monkey-like' – animated figures mimicking the shape and movements of primates, and simple geometric shapes – a pyramid and a cube. Both types could move across the screen, but only the first had biological morphology.
Chimpanzees quickly learned to distinguish these objects. When a monkey-like competitor stood between them and the reward, they approached the screen, tapped on it with their hands, and made grimacing expressions, trying to 'push through' to the target. The movement of the object itself did not play a decisive role – even a static silhouette of a primate elicited an active reaction.
In contrast, geometric shapes elicited almost no reaction, even if they moved actively and completely blocked the path to the reward. Chimpanzees ignored them, continuing to wait for a more 'alive' obstacle to appear.
The authors interpret the obtained data as evidence that morphology is the main criterion in determining agency in primates. Visual similarity to living beings automatically activates social mechanisms, while abstract forms are perceived as inanimate.
These findings are consistent with previous studies showing that great apes have developed theory of mind skills: they are capable of predicting the intentions and actions of other individuals. However, the current experiment emphasizes that such a predictive mechanism is closely linked to biological shape recognition.
Understanding how animals distinguish between the living and the non-living is crucial for studying the evolution of social perception. It helps clarify the neural and cognitive processes underlying the ability for empathy and cooperative behavior.
The study 'Chimpanzees Attribute Agency Only to Living Forms' is published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, providing a new perspective on the mechanisms of social perception in our closest evolutionary relatives.
Source: N+1
