SEMF | Francine Dolins | Nonhuman Primate Spatial Cognition in Virtual Reality @SEMF | Uploaded November 2022 | Updated October 2024, 41 minutes ago.
Talk kindly contributed by Francine Dolins in SEMF's 2022 Spacious Spatiality
semf.org.es/spatiality
TALK ABSTRACT
What kinds of spatial information do human and nonhumans attend to in their environment? How does this knowledge form the basis of intelligent spatial behaviors? To what extent can nonhuman animals represent virtual, imaginary scenarios to solve real-world cognitive problems? And, how does our ever-dynamic world impact these representations and problem-solving abilities? To address these questions, we designed a virtual world where monkeys, apes and humans face biologically relevant challenges such as those found in the real world, for example, finding food and avoiding competitors and predators. Our virtual reality (VR) multi-user touchscreen platform uses cutting-edge software and hardware to generate multiple realistic, ecologically relevant scenarios, ideally suited to capture a more ecologically valid method of testing spatial problem solving and memory.
Virtual reality provides great flexibility paired with control and maintains a high measure of ecological validity compared to more abstract experimental presentations. Using VR, we tested bonobos, chimpanzees, and humans (US children and adults, and Congolese hunter-gatherers and farmer-fishermen children). Participants navigate using the touchscreen to touch virtual food items, which is followed by an auditory reward (“ding”) and a visual reward (the food glows then disappears). The nonhuman primates received real food rewards corresponding to the type of virtual foods in VR while the humans received verbal rewards and at the end of testing, a gift (e.g., gift card, food, or clothing).
In one study for example, in a series of conditions we compared participants’ performance on the same virtual touchscreen spatial memory-foraging tasks in a simulated naturalistic environment. The overall goal was to determine whether they could generate a shortcut in virtual space. In this task, the participants learned the location of a trove of food (apples, bananas, grapes, and peanuts) behind the first ‘Treasure Tree”. Then the food was shifted to a novel location under the second “Treasure Tree”. We assessed whether the participants could compute a shortcut to localize the novel food location. Our aim was to compare these species’ ability to generate novel shortcuts based on their memory of the distance, angle, and direction between the landmarks and geometric features of the virtual environment. We also evaluated their ability to project spatial knowledge gained in virtual environments to solve spatial problems in the real world in a one-to-one correspondence (equivalence). This cross-species, cross-cultural approach lends insight into the emergence of primates’ complex cognitive spatial abilities, particularly in dynamic landscapes.
Co-PIs and Contributors: Brandon Klein, Karline Janmaat, Miguel DeGuinea, Lauren Robinson, Josep Call, Matthias Allritz, Emma McEwan, Charles Menzel and Ken Schweller
Funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation and the University of Michigan-Dearborn.
FRANCINE DOLINS
Behavioral Sciences Department, University of Michigan-Dearborn: https://umdearborn.edu/casl/departments/behavioral-sciences
University of Michigan-Dearborn profile: https://umdearborn.edu/francine-dolins
Personal website: https://www-personal.umd.umich.edu/~fdolins/
Personal website: https://www-personal.umd.umich.edu/~fdolins/berenty/scientists/fdolins.html
ResearchGate:researchgate.net/profile/Anthony-Cohn-2
Google Scholar: scholar.google.com/citations?user=tal4mMkAAAAJ
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tonycohn
SEMF NETWORKS
Website: semf.org.es
Twitter: twitter.com/semf_nexus
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/semf-nexus
Instagram: instagram.com/semf.nexus
Facebook: facebook.com/semf.nexus
MUSIC
youtube.com/user/Baroquenoise
Talk kindly contributed by Francine Dolins in SEMF's 2022 Spacious Spatiality
semf.org.es/spatiality
TALK ABSTRACT
What kinds of spatial information do human and nonhumans attend to in their environment? How does this knowledge form the basis of intelligent spatial behaviors? To what extent can nonhuman animals represent virtual, imaginary scenarios to solve real-world cognitive problems? And, how does our ever-dynamic world impact these representations and problem-solving abilities? To address these questions, we designed a virtual world where monkeys, apes and humans face biologically relevant challenges such as those found in the real world, for example, finding food and avoiding competitors and predators. Our virtual reality (VR) multi-user touchscreen platform uses cutting-edge software and hardware to generate multiple realistic, ecologically relevant scenarios, ideally suited to capture a more ecologically valid method of testing spatial problem solving and memory.
Virtual reality provides great flexibility paired with control and maintains a high measure of ecological validity compared to more abstract experimental presentations. Using VR, we tested bonobos, chimpanzees, and humans (US children and adults, and Congolese hunter-gatherers and farmer-fishermen children). Participants navigate using the touchscreen to touch virtual food items, which is followed by an auditory reward (“ding”) and a visual reward (the food glows then disappears). The nonhuman primates received real food rewards corresponding to the type of virtual foods in VR while the humans received verbal rewards and at the end of testing, a gift (e.g., gift card, food, or clothing).
In one study for example, in a series of conditions we compared participants’ performance on the same virtual touchscreen spatial memory-foraging tasks in a simulated naturalistic environment. The overall goal was to determine whether they could generate a shortcut in virtual space. In this task, the participants learned the location of a trove of food (apples, bananas, grapes, and peanuts) behind the first ‘Treasure Tree”. Then the food was shifted to a novel location under the second “Treasure Tree”. We assessed whether the participants could compute a shortcut to localize the novel food location. Our aim was to compare these species’ ability to generate novel shortcuts based on their memory of the distance, angle, and direction between the landmarks and geometric features of the virtual environment. We also evaluated their ability to project spatial knowledge gained in virtual environments to solve spatial problems in the real world in a one-to-one correspondence (equivalence). This cross-species, cross-cultural approach lends insight into the emergence of primates’ complex cognitive spatial abilities, particularly in dynamic landscapes.
Co-PIs and Contributors: Brandon Klein, Karline Janmaat, Miguel DeGuinea, Lauren Robinson, Josep Call, Matthias Allritz, Emma McEwan, Charles Menzel and Ken Schweller
Funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation and the University of Michigan-Dearborn.
FRANCINE DOLINS
Behavioral Sciences Department, University of Michigan-Dearborn: https://umdearborn.edu/casl/departments/behavioral-sciences
University of Michigan-Dearborn profile: https://umdearborn.edu/francine-dolins
Personal website: https://www-personal.umd.umich.edu/~fdolins/
Personal website: https://www-personal.umd.umich.edu/~fdolins/berenty/scientists/fdolins.html
ResearchGate:researchgate.net/profile/Anthony-Cohn-2
Google Scholar: scholar.google.com/citations?user=tal4mMkAAAAJ
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tonycohn
SEMF NETWORKS
Website: semf.org.es
Twitter: twitter.com/semf_nexus
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/semf-nexus
Instagram: instagram.com/semf.nexus
Facebook: facebook.com/semf.nexus
MUSIC
youtube.com/user/Baroquenoise
