Cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) fail to show mirror-guided self-exploration

Am J Primatol. 2001 Mar;53(3):131-7. doi: 10.1002/1098-2345(200103)53:3<131::AID-AJP4>3.0.CO;2-X.

Abstract

To investigate the problem of inter- and intraspecific differences on the mirror test, we conducted two experiments on cotton-top tamarins. Experiment 1 employed a technique similar to one used recently on chimpanzees, and provided no evidence of mirror-mediated touching of the marked area. In a control condition, involving colored dye applied to one arm, two subjects also failed to show self-directed touching, even though they clearly looked at their newly dyed arm. Under these test conditions, cotton-top tamarins fail to show mirror-guided self-exploration. Experiment 2 examined whether this failure was due to insufficient mirror exposure, as well as other details of the testing conditions. In particular, we replicated the design of a previously successful experiment on mirror-mediated recognition in tamarins [Hauser et al., 1995], providing four new animals with a protracted period (three weeks) of mirror exposure prior to dying their hair. In parallel with results from Experiment 1, we observed no evidence of mirror-mediated behavior (recognition) in Experiment 2.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Behavior, Animal
  • Exploratory Behavior*
  • Female
  • Male
  • Recognition, Psychology*
  • Saguinus / psychology*