Revisiting the definition of animal tool use

Benjamin Beck's definition of tool use has served the field of animal cognition well for over 25 years (Beck 1980, Animal Tool Behavior: the Use and Manufacture of Tools, New York, Garland STPM). This article proposes a new, more explanatory definition that accounts for tool use in terms of two...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAnimal behaviour Vol. 75; no. 4; pp. 1199 - 1208
Main Authors St Amant, Robert, Horton, Thomas E.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Kent Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2008
Elsevier
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Ltd
Subjects
Animal behavior
Animal cognition
Animal ethology
Animals
Beck, Benjamin B
Biological and medical sciences
cognition
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Scientists
tool use
cognition
tool use
Definition
Tool use
Animal
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Summary:Benjamin Beck's definition of tool use has served the field of animal cognition well for over 25 years (Beck 1980, Animal Tool Behavior: the Use and Manufacture of Tools, New York, Garland STPM). This article proposes a new, more explanatory definition that accounts for tool use in terms of two complementary subcategories of behaviours: behaviours aimed at altering a target object by mechanical means and behaviours that mediate the flow of information between the tool user and the environment or other organisms in the environment. The conceptual foundation and implications of the new definition are contrasted with those of existing definitions, particularly Beck's. The new definition is informally evaluated with respect to a set of scenarios that highlights differences from Beck's definition as well as those of others in the literature.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 23
ISSN:0003-3472
1095-8282
DOI:10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.09.028