A comparative analysis of global and local processing of hierarchical visual stimuli in young children (Homo sapiens) and monkeys (Cebus apella)

Results obtained with preschool children (Homo sapiens) were compared with results previously obtained from capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) in matching-to-sample tasks featuring hierarchical visual stimuli. In Experiment 1, monkeys, in contrast with children, showed an advantage in matching the stim...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of comparative psychology (1983) Vol. 119; no. 2; p. 155
Main Authors De Lillo, Carlo, Spinozzi, Giovanna, Truppa, Valentina, Naylor, Donna M
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.05.2005
Subjects
Animals
Cebus
Child, Preschool
Cognition
Cues
Female
Humans
Male
Psychological Tests
Reaction Time
Species Specificity
Visual Perception
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Summary:Results obtained with preschool children (Homo sapiens) were compared with results previously obtained from capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) in matching-to-sample tasks featuring hierarchical visual stimuli. In Experiment 1, monkeys, in contrast with children, showed an advantage in matching the stimuli on the basis of their local features. These results were replicated in a 2nd experiment in which control trials enabled the authors to rule out that children used spurious cues to solve the matching task. In a 3rd experiment featuring conditions in which the density of the stimuli was manipulated, monkeys' accuracy in the processing of the global shape of the stimuli was negatively affected by the separation of the local elements, whereas children's performance was robust across testing conditions. Children's response latencies revealed a global precedence in the 2nd and 3rd experiments. These results show differences in the processing of hierarchical stimuli by humans and monkeys that emerge early during childhood.
ISSN:0735-7036
DOI:10.1037/0735-7036.119.2.155