title: Self-recognition and abstraction abilities in the common chimpanzee studied with distorting mirrors.
abstract: The reactions of chimpanzees to regular mirrors and the results of the standard Gallup mark test have been well documented. In addition to using the mark test to demonstrate self-recognition in a regular mirror, we exposed six female chimpanzees to mirrors that produced distorted or multiplied self-images. Their reactions to their self-images, in terms of mirror-guided self-referenced behaviors, indicated that correct assessment of the source of the mirror image was made by each subject in each of the mirrors. Recognition of a distorted self-image implies an ability for abstraction in the subjects in that the distortion must be rationalized before self-recognition occurs. The implications of these results in terms of illuminating the relative importance of feature and contingency of movement cues to self-recognition are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, San Antonio, TX, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kitchen
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Denton
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Brent
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D005556:Form Perception; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic; D009043:Motor Activity; D009068:Movement; D002679:Pan troglodytes / Q000502:physiology*; D010469:Perceptual Distortion; D013850:Thinking; D014785:Vision, Ocular