TY - JOUR

T1 - A Longitudinal Study of Great Ape Cognition

T2 - Stability, Reliability and the Influence of Individual Characteristics

AU - Bohn, Manuel

AU - Eckert, Johanna

AU - Hanus, Daniel

AU - Haun, Daniel B.M.

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Primate cognition research allows us to reconstruct the evolution of human cognition. However, temporal and contextual factors that induce variation in cognitive studies with great apes are poorly understood. Here we report on a longitudinal study where we repeatedly tested a comparatively large sample of great apes (N = 40) with the same set of cognitive measures. We investigated the stability of group-level results, the reliability of individual differences, and the relation between cognitive performance and individual-level characteristics. We found results to be relatively stable on a group level. Some, but not all, tasks showed acceptable levels of reliability. Cognitive performance across tasks was not systematically related to any particular individual-level predictor. This study highlights the importance of methodological considerations – especially when studying individual differences – on the route to building a more robust science of primate cognitive evolution.

AB - Primate cognition research allows us to reconstruct the evolution of human cognition. However, temporal and contextual factors that induce variation in cognitive studies with great apes are poorly understood. Here we report on a longitudinal study where we repeatedly tested a comparatively large sample of great apes (N = 40) with the same set of cognitive measures. We investigated the stability of group-level results, the reliability of individual differences, and the relation between cognitive performance and individual-level characteristics. We found results to be relatively stable on a group level. Some, but not all, tasks showed acceptable levels of reliability. Cognitive performance across tasks was not systematically related to any particular individual-level predictor. This study highlights the importance of methodological considerations – especially when studying individual differences – on the route to building a more robust science of primate cognitive evolution.

KW - Psychology

KW - Primate Cognition

KW - Stability

KW - Reliability

KW - individual differences

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85139382475&partnerID=8YFLogxK

M3 - Conference article in journal

VL - 43

SP - 56

EP - 62

JO - Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

JF - Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

SN - 1069-7977

ER -