Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) remember the location of a hidden food item after altering their orientation to a spatial array

J Comp Psychol. 2006 Nov;120(4):389-93. doi: 10.1037/0735-7036.120.4.389.

Abstract

Two chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) had a direct view of an experimenter placing a food item beneath one of several cups within a horizontal spatial array. The chimpanzees then were required to move around the spatial array, shifting their orientation to the array by 180 degrees . Both chimpanzees remembered the location of the food item. In the next experiment, a visual barrier was placed between the chimpanzees and the spatial array after the food item had been hidden to prevent visual tracking of the location of the object during the chimpanzees' movement. One chimpanzee remembered the location of the hidden item in this variation. These results demonstrate another capacity for spatial memory in this species that complements data indicating chimpanzee spatial memory for invisible displacements, array rotations, and array transpositions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Exploratory Behavior*
  • Feeding Behavior*
  • Female
  • Male
  • Memory*
  • Pan troglodytes
  • Space Perception*
  • Spatial Behavior*
  • Visual Perception*