Slide 2 March 3 rd, 2009 Slide 3 Introduction to Tool Use and
Causal Understanding What is learned - associative learning of
causal understanding? 3 Case Studies: Tool Selection Gravity Tool
Manufacture How are causal relations learned? Slide 4 Slide 5 Tool
Use Slide 6 Insight & Creativity Using the environment in novel
ways to achieve goals Planning & Forethought Thinking ahead
Responding to stimuli that arent in sight Causal Understanding Folk
Physics Understanding something about how the world works Mediating
forces Slide 7 What is learned? Associative vs. Causal EventOutcome
Associative learning: Predict the outcome what is going to happen
next? Causal understanding: WHY and HOW does the outcome occur?
Slide 8 What is learned? Associative vs. Causal Associative: Yellow
ball moves after contact with blue ball Causal: Mediating forces
force imparted by blue ball is blocked by the barrier Slide 9
Mediating forces: Different levels of complexity Visible factors
Invisible factors Psychological factors Explanatory Attitude Slide
10 Slide 11 Can non-human animals recognize the functional
properties of tools? Hauser and colleagues cottontop tamarins Slide
12 Hauser and colleagues cottontop tamarins Slide 13 Varied colour,
texture, shape and size Colour & texture are not functional
changes Shape & size could be functional changes All canes set
in the correct spatial arrangement Slide 14 Monkeys preferred the
non-functional changes Sensitive to changes in potential
functionality Slide 15 Similar results found with capuchins Fujita,
Kuroshima & Asai, 2003 Included transfer tests in which an
obstacle or a trap was on drag path Capuchins failed on these
transfers Understand spatial relationship between tool and food,
but not tool, food and environment Slide 16 New Caledonian crows
Select tools of appropriate length in sight and out of sight Slide
17 Betty & Abel In sight:Out of sight (Abel only) -Two
strategies: -Match distance or -Choose longest -What if length was
un-usable? -Abstract representation (keep representation of tool
and intended goal in mind) Slide 18 Slide 19 Slide 20 Trap in the
middle of the tube Learned the task: 1 out of 4 capuchins 2 out of
5 chimps Transfer tests showed that capuchins used a distance based
rule Slide 21 Chimps didnt use distance based rule Associative rule
still possible Insert stick on side of trap Slide 22 Failure to
adjust behaviour on inverted tests But theres no penalty for not
adjusting! Human adults dont adjust either Instructional problem?
Too many factors? Tool, food and environment Adjusted task to
remove tool use Slide 23 Allows subjects to pull or push Prefer to
pull Distance and trap rules are not available Slide 24 New
Caledonian crows Similar transfer tests: 3/6 solved the transfers
plus a trap-table task Slide 25 Slide 26 In the wild, elephants
commonly use branches to repel flies Too long or too bushy branches
presented to captive elephants Slide 27 Slide 28 In the wild, tear
pandanus leaves Barbed edges of leaf can be used to fish for
insects in dead wood cultural variation in tool manufacture Naive
birds can create pandanus tools without teaching Slide 29 In the
lab: http://users.ox.ac.uk/~kgroup/tools/movies.sht ml
http://users.ox.ac.uk/~kgroup/tools/movies.sht ml Always inserted
straight wire first Insightful? Slide 30 Slide 31 Slide 32
Blaisdell, Sawa, Leising & Waldmann, 2006 Test: Intervene-Tone
or Observe-Tone Common CauseCausal Chain Light Tone Light FoodLight
ToneLight Food Slide 33 Rats Causal explanation: If Tone just
occurs, maybe Light came on first and was missed Check for food! If
I caused the Tone to occur, Light didnt happen dont check for food
Associative explanation: If there is an association between the
tone & food, shouldnt matter whether you caused it or not check
for food at same rate. Chain always check Slide 34 Rats respond in
accordance with causal reasoning, not associative processes Slide
35 Causal Markov condition During common-cause condition, tone and
light should be causally independent But, rats receive only tone or
food following the light they are NOT independent of each other
Thus, does not strictly follow causal Bayes net Slide 36 Criticism:
Lack of evidence could be based on inability to properly instruct
animals http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZmx0jml1jk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIAoJsS9Ix8& feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIAoJsS9Ix8& feature=related
