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Hauser, Marc David

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Marc David

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Hauser, Marc David

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 12
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    The possibility of impossible cultures
    (Nature, 2009) Hauser, Marc David
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    General Intelligence in Another Primate: Individual Differences across Cognitive Task Performance in a New World Monkey (Saguinus Oedipus)
    (Public Library of Science, 2009) Tsao, Fritz; Banerjee, Konika; Chabris, Christopher; Johnson, Valen E.; Lee, James J.; Tsao; Hauser, Marc David
    Background: Individual differences in human cognitive abilities show consistently positive correlations across diverse domains, providing the basis for the trait of “general intelligence” (g). At present, little is known about the evolution of g, in part because most comparative studies focus on rodents or on differences across higher-level taxa. What is needed, therefore, are experiments targeting nonhuman primates, focusing on individual differences within a single species, using a broad battery of tasks. To this end, we administered a large battery of tasks, representing a broad range of cognitive domains, to a population of captive cotton-top tamarin monkeys (Saguinus oedipus). Methodology and Results: Using a Bayesian latent variable model, we show that the pattern of correlations among tasks is consistent with the existence of a general factor accounting for a small but significant proportion of the variance in each task (the lower bounds of 95% Bayesian credibility intervals for correlations between g and task performance all exceed 0.12). Conclusion: Individual differences in cognitive abilities within at least one other primate species can be characterized by a general intelligence factor, supporting the hypothesis that important aspects of human cognitive function most likely evolved from ancient neural substrates.
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    Will Travel for Food: Spatial Discounting in Two New World Monkeys
    (Elsevier, 2005) Stevens, Jeffrey R.; Rosati, Alexandra G.; Ross, Kathryn R.; Hauser, Marc David
    Nonhuman animals steeply discount the future, showing a preference for small, immediate over large, delayed rewards [1-5]. Currently unclear is whether discounting functions depend on context. Here, we examine the effects of spatial context on discounting in cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) and common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus), species known to differ in temporal discounting [5]. We presented subjects with a choice between small, nearby rewards and large, distant rewards. Tamarins traveled farther for the large reward than marmosets, attending to the ratio of reward differences rather than their absolute values. This species difference contrasts with performance on a temporal task in which marmosets waited longer than tamarins for the large reward. These comparative data indicate that context influences choice behavior, with the strongest effect seen in marmosets who discounted more steeply over space than over time. These findings parallel details of each species' feeding ecology. Tamarins range over large distances and feed primarily on insects, which requires using quick, impulsive action. Marmosets range over shorter distances than tamarins and feed primarily on tree exudates, a clumped resource that requires patience to wait for sap to exude [6-9]. These results show that discounting functions are context specific, shaped by a history of ecological pressures.
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    Rhesus Monkeys (Macaca mulatta) Spontaneously Compute Addition Operations Over Large Numbers
    (Elsevier, 2005) Flombaum, Jonathan I.; Junge, Justin; Hauser, Marc David
    Mathematics is a uniquely human capacity. Studies of animals and human infants reveal, however, that this capacity builds on language-independent mechanisms for quantifying small numbers (< 4) precisely and large numbers approximately. It is unclear whether animals and human infants can spontaneously tap mechanisms for quantifying large numbers to compute mathematical operations. Moreover, all available work on addition operations in non-human animals has confounded number with continuous perceptual properties (e.g. volume, contour length) that correlate with number. This study shows that rhesus monkeys spontaneously compute addition operations over large numbers, as opposed to continuous extents, and that the limit on this ability is set by the ratio difference between two numbers as opposed to their absolute difference.
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    The Evolution of the Language Faculty: Clarifications and Implications
    (Elsevier, 2005) Fitch, W. Tecumseh; Hauser, Marc David; Chomsky, Noam
    In this response to Pinker and Jackendoff's critique, we extend our previous framework for discussion of language evolution, clarifying certain distinctions and elaborating on a number of points. In the first half of the paper, we reiterate that profitable research into the biology and evolution of language requires fractionation of "language" into component mechanisms and interfaces, a non-trivial endeavor whose results are unlikely to map onto traditional disciplinary boundaries, Our terminological distinction between FLN and FLB is intended to help clarify misunderstandings and aid interdisciplinary rapprochement. By blurring this distinction, Pinker and Jackendoff mischaracterize our hypothesis 3 which concerns only FLN, not "language" as a whole. Many of their arguments and examples are thus irrelevant to this hypothesis. Their critique of the minimalist program is for the most part equally irrelevant, because very few of the arguments in our original paper were tied to this program; in an online appendix we detail the deep inaccuracies in their characterization of this program. Concerning evolution, we believe that Pinker and Jackendoff's emphasis on the past adaptive history of the language faculty is misplaced. Such questions are unlikely to be resolved empirically due to a lack of relevant data, and invite speculation rather than research. Preoccupation with the issue has retarded progress in the field by diverting research away from empirical questions, many of which can be addressed with comparative data. Moreover, offering an adaptive hypothesis as an alternative to our hypothesis concerning mechanisms is a logical error, as questions of function are independent of those concerning mechanism. The second half of our paper consists of a detailed response to the specific data discussed by Pinker and Jackendoff. Although many of their examples are irrelevant to our original paper and arguments, we find several areas of substantive disagreement that could be resolved by future empirical research. We conclude that progress in understanding the evolution of language will require much more empirical research, grounded in modern comparative biology, more interdisciplinary collaboration, and much less of the adaptive storytelling and phylogenetic speculation that has traditionally characterized the field.
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    The Evolutionary Origins of Human Patience: Temporal Preferences in Chimpanzees, Bonobos, and Human Adults
    (Cell Press, 2007) Rosati, Alexandra G.; Stevens, Jeffrey R.; Hare, Brian; Hauser, Marc David
    To make adaptive choices, individuals must sometimes exhibit patience, forgoing immediate benefits to acquire more valuable future rewards. Although humans account for future consequences when making temporal decisions, many animal species wait only a few seconds for delayed benefits. Current research thus suggests a phylogenetic gap between patient humans and impulsive, present-oriented animals, a distinction with implications for our understanding of economic decision making and the origins of human cooperation. On the basis of a series of experimental results, we reject this conclusion. First, bonobos (Pan paniscus) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) exhibit a degree of patience not seen in other animals tested thus far. Second, humans are less willing to wait for food rewards than are chimpanzees. Third, humans are more willing to wait for monetary rewards than for food, and show the highest degree of patience only in response to decisions about money involving low opportunity costs. These findings suggest that core components of the capacity for future-oriented decisions evolved before the human lineage diverged from apes. Moreover, the different levels of patience that humans exhibit might be driven by fundamental differences in the mechanisms representing biological versus abstract rewards.
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    The Ecology and Evolution of Patience in Two New World Monkeys
    (The Royal Society, 2005) Stevens, Jeffrey R.; Hallinan, Elizabeth V.; Hauser, Marc David
    Decision making often involves choosing between small, short-term rewards and large, long-term rewards. All animals, humans included, discount future rewards-the present value of delayed rewards is viewed as less than the value of immediate rewards. Despite its ubiquity, there exists considerable but unexplained variation between species in their capacity to wait for rewards-that is, to exert patience or self-control. Using two closely related primates-common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) and cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus)-we uncover a variable that may explain differences in how species discount future rewards. Both species faced a self-control paradigm in which individuals chose between taking an immediate small reward and waiting a variable amount of time for a large reward. Under these conditions, marmosets waited significantly longer for food than tamarins. This difference cannot be explained by life history, social behaviour or brain size. It can, however, be explained by feeding ecology: marmosets rely on gum, a food product acquired by waiting for exudate to flow from trees, whereas tamarins feed on insects, a food product requiring impulsive action. Foraging ecology, therefore, may provide a selective pressure for the evolution of self-control.
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    The Evolution of Nonhuman Primate Vocalizations: Effects of Phylogeny, Body Weight, and Social Context
    (University of Chicago Press, 1993) Hauser, Marc David
    E. S. Morton proposed that, in birds and mammals, individuals tend to produce low-frequency atonal vocalizations in highly aggressive situations, whereas they typically produce high-frequency tonal vocalizations during nonaggressive or fearful situations. This hypothesis, referred to as the "motivation-structural (MS) rules," is based on two assumptions: the frequency of a vocalization is negatively correlated with body weight, and large animals are dominant over smaller animals, and thus aggressive vocalizations tend to have a lower pitch than fearful vocalizations. The relationship between body weight and frequency is examined using data on 36 nonhuman primate species representing 23 genera and 474 vocalizations. Results show that there is a statistically significant negative correlation between body weight and frequency: larger species produce relatively lower-pitched vocalizations than smaller species. A test of Morton's MS rules provided overall support for the predicted relationship between motivational state and frequency (i.e., high-frequency calls were produced by fearful individuals, and low-frequency calls were produced by aggressive individuals) but no support for the expected relationship between motivational state and tonality. However, the motivational state-frequency pairing was confounded by the fact that some taxonomic groups (Platyrrhini and Catarrhini) showed a much stronger level of association than other groups (Prosimii and Hominoidea). In summary, therefore, the nonhuman primate data provide only partial support for MS rules. At least three factors may have influenced the outcome of the current test. First, in some species, motivational state may be more closely associated with other acoustic parameters than absolute frequency and tonality. Second, the acoustic structure of nonhuman primate vocalizations is, at least in some cases, more closely associated with an external referent than with the caller's internal state. And third, features of the species-typical habitat have had direct selective effects on signal structure, optimizing for effective propagation through the environment.
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    Concept Attribution in Nonhuman Animals: Theoretical and Methodological Problems in Ascribing Complex Mental Processes
    (University of Chicago Press, 1991) Allen, Colin; Hauser, Marc David
    The demise of behaviorism has made ethologists more willing to ascribe mental states to animals. However, a methodology that can avoid the charge of excessive anthropomorphism is needed. We describe a series of experiments that could help determine whether the behavior of nonhuman animals towards dead conspecifics is concept mediated. These experiments form the basis of a general point. The behavior of some animals is clearly guided by complex mental processes. The techniques developed by comparative psychologists and behavioral ecologists are able to provide us with the tools to critically evaluate hypotheses concerning the continuity between human minds and animal minds.
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