Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Letters, Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan.
Percept Mot Skills. 2012 Apr;114(2):429-32. doi: 10.2466/22.24.PMS.114.2.429-432.
Although previous studies have confirmed that trained orangutans visually discriminate between mammals and artificial objects, whether orangutans without operant conditioning can discriminate remains unknown. The visual discrimination ability in an orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) with no experience in operant learning was examined using measures of visual preference. Sixteen color photographs of inanimate objects and of mammals with four legs were randomly presented to an orangutan. The results showed that the mean looking time at photographs of mammals with four legs was longer than that for inanimate objects, suggesting that the orangutan discriminated mammals with four legs from inanimate objects. The results implied that orangutans who have not experienced operant conditioning may possess the ability to discriminate visually.
虽然先前的研究已经证实，经过训练的猩猩能够在视觉上区分哺乳动物和人工制品，但未经操作性条件作用训练的猩猩是否能够进行区分尚不清楚。本研究使用视觉偏好测量的方法，检测了一只没有操作性学习经验的猩猩（Pongo pygmaeus）的视觉辨别能力。向一只猩猩随机呈现了十六张无生命物体和四条腿哺乳动物的彩色照片。结果表明，猩猩观察四条腿哺乳动物照片的平均时间长于观察无生命物体的平均时间，这表明猩猩能够将四条腿哺乳动物与无生命物体区分开来。研究结果表明，未经操作性条件作用训练的猩猩可能具有视觉辨别能力。
