In the domain of social cognition, we are studying the ability of various species to follow the gaze of conspecifics and/or humans to interesting and important items in the environment. We have documented that five different primate species follow the gaze of conspecifics reliably, and are currently studying specific parameters that affect the process in human-ape interactions involving the use of gaze to locate food. Primate use of gaze as a source of information about their environments is a potentially very significant social cognitive skill in many important social contexts. In our ongoing work we are documenting a variety of novel contexts in which primates follow the gaze of conspecifics and humans and the cues they use to do this. We have now begun our work on chimpanzee cooperative problem solving. Pairs of chimpanzees are presented with a task in which the two of them must coordinate their behavior in order to be successful. We will be exploring conditions that facilitate and impede cooperation in this and similar tasks.
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