Sensitivity to the role of an animated agent from observed interactions in newborn chicks ( Gallus gallus )

Few month old human infants are able to detect the social roles of artificial agents and consistently choose the object behaving as 'approacher' rather than 'repulser'. This preference has been considered evidence of a pre-linguistic and pre-cultural origin of the social mind. Si...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Royal Society open science Vol. 10; no. 10; p. 210020
Main Authors:	De Roni, P, Geraci, A, Simion, F, Regolin, L
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	England The Royal Society 25-10-2023
Subjects:	avian cognition early preference Gallus gallus domesticus Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience Registered Report social development social hierarchy social role social hierarchy early preference Gallus gallus domesticus social development avian cognition social role
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	Few month old human infants are able to detect the social roles of artificial agents and consistently choose the object behaving as 'approacher' rather than 'repulser'. This preference has been considered evidence of a pre-linguistic and pre-cultural origin of the social mind. Similar preferences have not been described in other species, though comparative data could help clarify the nature of this phenomenon and its evolutionary origin. In this study, we investigated sensitivity to the social role of an artificial agent in domestic chicks. Birds offer an excellent model to study the evolutionary roots of cognitive abilities, since they separated from mammals over 300 Ma. Moreover, the investigation of newly hatched chicks allows control for previous experience. After being exposed to computer-presented animations depicting an interaction among two agents, chicks underwent a free choice test among those same objects. While no initial evidence of a clear preference emerged from the planned analysis, chicks in the experimental condition showed a preference for the 'approacher' when controlling for side bias, mirroring human infants behaviour. This suggests the existence of an early ability to discriminate agents from their interactions, independent from any social experience.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Electronic supplementary material is available online at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6879588.
ISSN:	2054-5703 2054-5703
DOI:	10.1098/rsos.210020