Visual cognition in humans and baboons

Joël Fagot

CNRS, France

Comparative psychologists and neuroscientists working with primates often assume that very little differences exist in the processing of visual information by humans and nonhuman primates, especially when those primates phylogenetically close from humans are considered. I will present the main findings of several years of research in which my associates and I have directly compared the processing of visual information by humans and baboons, by testing these two species in identical experimental contexts. Three lines of research will be presented during that lecture. The first two will compare the ability of baboons and humans for perceptual grouping and amodal completion (Fagot & Deruelle, 1997; Fagot et al., in press). They will demonstrate qualitative differences in the processing of discontinuous and occluded objects by these species. The third line of research will compare the processing of still digitized images showing natural objects (e.g., human faces or conspecifics) by these two species. It will question baboon's to perceive some equivalence between the pictures and the objects they represent (Fagot et al., 1999). My presentation will highlight important differences between species in the processing of visual information, and underline some of the rules governing the perception of visual objects by baboons.

Fagot, J., & Deruelle, C. (1997). Processing of global and local visual information and hemispheric specialization in humans (Homo sapiens) and baboons (Papio papio). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 23, 429-442.

Fagot, J., Tomonaga, M., & Deruelle, C. (in press). Processing of the global and local dimensions of visual hierarchical stimuli by baboons (Homo sapiens), chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and baboons (Papio papio). In T. Matsuzawa (Ed.), Primate Origin of Human Cognition and Behavior. Tokyo : Springer Verlag.

Fagot, J., Martin-Malivel, J., & Depy, D. (1999). What are the evidence for equivalence between objects and pictures in birds and nonhuman primates ? Current Psychology of Cognition, 5-6, 923-950.

Fagot, Joël

Center for Research in Cognitive Neurosciences, CNRS

31 ch. Joseph Aiguier, 13402 Marseille cedex 20, France

fagot@lnf.cnrs-mrs.fr