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Technology advancing the study of animal cognition: using virtual reality to present virtually simulated environments to investigate nonhuman primate spatial cognition

Virtual simulated environments provide multiple ways of testing cognitive function and evaluating problem solving with humans (e.g., Woollett et al. 2009). The use of such interactive technology has increasingly become an essential part of modern life (e.g., autonomously driving vehicles, global pos...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Dolins, Francine L., Schweller, Kenneth, Milne, Scott
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Oxford University Press 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5804157/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29491967
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cz/zow121
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author Dolins, Francine L.
Schweller, Kenneth
Milne, Scott
author_facet Dolins, Francine L.
Schweller, Kenneth
Milne, Scott
author_sort Dolins, Francine L.
collection PubMed
description Virtual simulated environments provide multiple ways of testing cognitive function and evaluating problem solving with humans (e.g., Woollett et al. 2009). The use of such interactive technology has increasingly become an essential part of modern life (e.g., autonomously driving vehicles, global positioning systems (GPS), and touchscreen computers; Chinn and Fairlie 2007; Brown 2011). While many nonhuman animals have their own forms of "technology", such as chimpanzees who create and use tools, in captive animal environments the opportunity to actively participate with interactive technology is not often made available. Exceptions can be found in some state-of-the-art zoos and laboratory facilities (e.g., Mallavarapu and Kuhar 2005). When interactive technology is available, captive animals often selectively choose to engage with it. This enhances the animal’s sense of control over their immediate surroundings (e.g., Clay et al. 2011; Ackerman 2012). Such self-efficacy may help to fulfill basic requirements in a species’ daily activities using problem solving that can involve foraging and other goal-oriented behaviors. It also assists in fulfilling the strong underlying motivation for contrafreeloading and exploration expressed behaviorally by many species in captivity (Young 1999). Moreover, being able to present nonhuman primates virtual reality environments under experimental conditions provides the opportunity to gain insight into their navigational abilities and spatial cognition. It allows for insight into the generation and application of internal mental representations of landmarks and environments under multiple conditions (e.g., small- and large-scale space) and subsequent spatial behavior. This paper reviews methods using virtual reality developed to investigate the spatial cognitive abilities of nonhuman primates, and great apes in particular, in comparison with that of humans of multiple age groups. We make recommendations about training, best practices, and also pitfalls to avoid.
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spelling pubmed-58041572018-02-28 Technology advancing the study of animal cognition: using virtual reality to present virtually simulated environments to investigate nonhuman primate spatial cognition Dolins, Francine L. Schweller, Kenneth Milne, Scott Curr Zool Articles Virtual simulated environments provide multiple ways of testing cognitive function and evaluating problem solving with humans (e.g., Woollett et al. 2009). The use of such interactive technology has increasingly become an essential part of modern life (e.g., autonomously driving vehicles, global positioning systems (GPS), and touchscreen computers; Chinn and Fairlie 2007; Brown 2011). While many nonhuman animals have their own forms of "technology", such as chimpanzees who create and use tools, in captive animal environments the opportunity to actively participate with interactive technology is not often made available. Exceptions can be found in some state-of-the-art zoos and laboratory facilities (e.g., Mallavarapu and Kuhar 2005). When interactive technology is available, captive animals often selectively choose to engage with it. This enhances the animal’s sense of control over their immediate surroundings (e.g., Clay et al. 2011; Ackerman 2012). Such self-efficacy may help to fulfill basic requirements in a species’ daily activities using problem solving that can involve foraging and other goal-oriented behaviors. It also assists in fulfilling the strong underlying motivation for contrafreeloading and exploration expressed behaviorally by many species in captivity (Young 1999). Moreover, being able to present nonhuman primates virtual reality environments under experimental conditions provides the opportunity to gain insight into their navigational abilities and spatial cognition. It allows for insight into the generation and application of internal mental representations of landmarks and environments under multiple conditions (e.g., small- and large-scale space) and subsequent spatial behavior. This paper reviews methods using virtual reality developed to investigate the spatial cognitive abilities of nonhuman primates, and great apes in particular, in comparison with that of humans of multiple age groups. We make recommendations about training, best practices, and also pitfalls to avoid. Oxford University Press 2017-02 2017-01-06 /pmc/articles/PMC5804157/ /pubmed/29491967 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cz/zow121 Text en © The Author (2017). Published by Oxford University Press. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com
spellingShingle Articles
Dolins, Francine L.
Schweller, Kenneth
Milne, Scott
Technology advancing the study of animal cognition: using virtual reality to present virtually simulated environments to investigate nonhuman primate spatial cognition
title Technology advancing the study of animal cognition: using virtual reality to present virtually simulated environments to investigate nonhuman primate spatial cognition
title_full Technology advancing the study of animal cognition: using virtual reality to present virtually simulated environments to investigate nonhuman primate spatial cognition
title_fullStr Technology advancing the study of animal cognition: using virtual reality to present virtually simulated environments to investigate nonhuman primate spatial cognition
title_full_unstemmed Technology advancing the study of animal cognition: using virtual reality to present virtually simulated environments to investigate nonhuman primate spatial cognition
title_short Technology advancing the study of animal cognition: using virtual reality to present virtually simulated environments to investigate nonhuman primate spatial cognition
title_sort technology advancing the study of animal cognition: using virtual reality to present virtually simulated environments to investigate nonhuman primate spatial cognition
topic Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5804157/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29491967
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cz/zow121
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