A Longitudinal Study of Great Ape Cognition: Stability, Reliability and the Influence of Individual Characteristics
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In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, Vol. 43, 2021, p. 56-62.
Research output: Journal contributions › Conference article in journal › Research › peer-review
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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 -