Defying Food - How Distance Determines Monkeys' Ability to Inhibit Reaching for Food
| Autor: | Junghans, Astrid, Sterck, Elisabeth H M, Overduin de Vries, Anne, Evers, Catharine, De Ridder, Denise T D, Dirksen, Karen, Animal Ecology, Leerstoel Ridder, Sub Animal Ecology, Sub Hematologie, Stress and self-regulation |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Předmět: |
Primates
Communication business.industry affordances lcsh:BF1-990 05 social sciences digestive oral and skin physiology eating behavior inhibition 050105 experimental psychology Environmental influence 03 medical and health sciences lcsh:Psychology 0302 clinical medicine Psychology Eating behavior Embodied Cognition 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences business Affordance 030217 neurology & neurosurgery General Psychology Original Research |
| Zdroj: | Frontiers in Psychology, 7. Frontiers Media S.A. Frontiers in Psychology, Vol 7 (2016) Frontiers in Psychology |
| ISSN: | 1664-1078 |
| Popis: | Objects, such as food, in the environment automatically activate and facilitate affordances, the possibilities for motoric movements in interaction with the objects. Previous research has shown that affordance activation is contingent upon the distance of the object with only proximal objects activating potential movements. However, the effect of affordance-activating proximal objects on the ability to inhibit movements has been unaddressed. The current study addressed this question with two experiments on long-tailed macaques. In both experiments monkeys were situated behind a Plexiglass screen that prevented direct access to food placed right behind the screen. The food could only be reached via a detour through one of two holes on the sides of the screen. It was assessed whether monkeys' ability to inhibit the unsuccessful immediate reaching movement forward toward the food depended on the distance at which the food was presented. Results of both Experiments revealed that monkeys reached for the proximally positioned food significantly more than for the distally positioned food, despite this Plexiglass screen preventing successful obtainment of the food. The findings reveal the effect of proximal, affordance-activating objects on the ability to resist movements involved in interacting with the objects. Implications for humans, living in environments in which proximal, or accessible food is constantly available are discussed. The findings can contribute to an understanding of why resisting accessible food in the environment is often unsuccessful. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|