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Differences in the early cognitive development of children and great apes.

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Date
2014-04
Authors
Wobber, Victoria
Herrmann, Esther
Hare, Brian
Wrangham, Richard
Tomasello, Michael
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744
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Abstract
There is very little research comparing great ape and human cognition developmentally. In the current studies we compared a cross-sectional sample of 2- to 4-year-old human children (n=48) with a large sample of chimpanzees and bonobos in the same age range (n=42, hereafter: apes) on a broad array of cognitive tasks. We then followed a group of juvenile apes (n=44) longitudinally over 3 years to track their cognitive development in greater detail. In skills of physical cognition (space, causality, quantities), children and apes performed comparably at 2 years of age, but by 4 years of age children were more advanced (whereas apes stayed at their 2-year-old performance levels). In skills of social cognition (communication, social learning, theory of mind), children out-performed apes already at 2 years, and increased this difference even more by 4 years. Patterns of development differed more between children and apes in the social domain than the physical domain, with support for these patterns present in both the cross-sectional and longitudinal ape data sets. These results indicate key differences in the pattern and pace of cognitive development between humans and other apes, particularly in the early emergence of specific social cognitive capacities in humans.
Type
Journal article
Subject
bonobos
chimpanzees
cognitive development
comparative psychology
social cognition
Animals
Child Development
Child, Preschool
Cognition
Communication
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Humans
Learning
Male
Pan paniscus
Pan troglodytes
Psychology, Child
Social Behavior
Theory of Mind
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/13650
Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1002/dev.21125
Publication Info
Wobber, Victoria; Herrmann, Esther; Hare, Brian; Wrangham, Richard; & Tomasello, Michael (2014). Differences in the early cognitive development of children and great apes. Dev Psychobiol, 56(3). pp. 547-573. 10.1002/dev.21125. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/13650.
This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Scholars@Duke

Hare

Brian Hare

Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology
Tomasello

Michael Tomasello

James F. Bonk Distinguished Professor
Major research interests in processes of social cognition, social learning, cooperation, and communication from developmental, comparative, and cultural perspectives. Current theoretical focus on processes of shared intentionality. Empirical research mainly with human children from 1 to 4 years of age and great apes.
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