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Animal Minds > Tool Use > Flashcards

Tool Use Flashcards

1
Q

When was the earliest definitive evidence of hominin tools

A

2.62.5 million years ago

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2
Q

Why is earlier evidence of hominin tool use less difinitive?

A

nonstone tools do not get preserved in the archaeological record

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3
Q

What are hominins?

A

the human lineage since the split from the other great apes 6-8 million years ago (i.e. hominin = Homo sapiens + our ancestors + all extinct human species)

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4
Q

Why is evidence from more than 3.3 mil years ago of hominin tool use missing?

A

nonstone tools do not get preserved in the archaeological record

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5
Q

How do Chimpanzees at Gombe, Tanzania use sticks

A

to “fish” for termites

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6
Q

What is jane goodall’s explanation for tool use?

A

the use of an external object as a functional extension of mouth or beak, hand or claw, in the attainment of an immediate goal

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7
Q

What is John Alockl’s explanation for tool use?

A

the manipulation of an inanimate object, not internally manufactured, with the effect of improving the animal’s efficiency in altering the form or position of some separate object

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8
Q

What is R. Schumakerl’s explanation for tool use?

A

(after Benjamin Beck) define tool use as “the external employment of an unattached or manipulable attached environmental object to alter more efficiently the form, position, or condition of another object, another organism, or the user itself when the user holds and directly manipulates the tool during or prior to use

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9
Q

What are 11 examples of tool use?

A
  • Sea urchins wear shells and pebbles for camouflage/defense
  • Blanket octopuses carry jellyfish tentacles as defensive weapons
  • Marine crabs wave stinging sea-anemones in their pincers for defence
  • Digger wasps use pebbles to hammer down dirt outside burrow
  • Crocodiles use sticks as lures to catch avian prey
  • South American cichlid fish use leaves as tablets for carrying eggs
  • Archer fish spit jets of water to knock prey off perch
  • Egyptian vultures drop stones onto ostrich eggs to break them
  • Galapagos woodpecker finches use cactus spines to e`xtract insects
  • Bottlenose dolphins carry sponges as foraging aids
  • Elephants use branches held in their trunks as fly swats`
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10
Q

What are the taxodermic levels

A

phyla -> classes -> orders -> families -> genera -> species

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11
Q

What are the 4 phyla in which tool use is seen

A

Echinodermata, arthropads, mollusca, chordata

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12
Q

What are the ten classes which tool use is seen

A

sea urchens, insects, spiders, crabs, snails, octopi, fish, reptiles, birds, mammals

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13
Q

In what percentage of catalogued animals has tool use been seen?

A

0.2 percent

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14
Q

How many tools do most animals use?

A

1

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15
Q

What types of species have exceptions to the one tool rule

A

Primates and birds

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16
Q

What animal stands out in terms of their variety of tool use?

A

Wild Chimps

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17
Q

What do wild chimps use tools for

A

Use tools for foraging, self-maintenance, and the social/communicative domains

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18
Q

What are the 14 chimp tool uses

A

Algae scoop
Aimed throw
Ant dip
Branch drag
Dig w/ stick
Fly whisk
Leaf clip
Leaf sponge
Leaf cushion
Leaf wipe
Nasal probe
Nut crack
Pestle pound
Prey spear
Stir probe
Termite fish

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19
Q

Describe the variety of tool use across chimp species

A

Vary greatly

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20
Q

What three things need to be considered for animals to use tools

A

Ability
Opportunity
Benefits

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21
Q

What type of ability is important in animal tool use

A

Cognitive/physical

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22
Q

What opportunities are important in animal tool use

A

Suitable materials and conditions

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23
Q

What is considered in terms of benefits for animal tool use

A

Energetic returns vs costs

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24
Q

Describe tool usage of Capuchin monkeys

A

Versatile skill users in captivity, but only recently started using tools in the wild

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25
Q

What are the four mutually exclusive hypotheses for why some species of capuchin monkeys use tools and others do not?

A

Necessity
Opportunity
Limited invention
Relative profitability

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26
Q

Describe the necessity hypothesis for capuchin monkey tool use

A

Tool use is a response to resource scarcity

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27
Q

Describe the opportunity hypothesis for capuchin monkey tool use

A

Repeated exposure to the right conditions prompts tool use

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28
Q

Describe the limited invention hypothesis for capuchin monkey tool use

A

Tool use is rarely invented and spread requires sufficient social proximity to learn from others

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29
Q

Describe the relative profitability hypothesis for capuchin monkey tool use

A

Tool use is expressed whenever it is relatively more profitable than non-tool-assisted foraging

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30
Q

In what season do woodpecker finches use tools the most and what hypothesis supports this

A

Dry season - necessity

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31
Q

In what season do west african chimps use tools the most and what hypothesis supports this

A

Winter - Necessity (less fruiting trees)

32
Q

In what season central african chimps use tools the most and what hypothesis supports this

A

Wet season - opportunity

33
Q

What animal has an interesting case of tool use

A

New Caledonian Crow

34
Q

Where did New Caledonian Crows come from and where did they land

A

Came from South East Asia or Austrailia

Landed in new Caledonia

35
Q

What situation did the New Caledonian Crows find themselves in

A

Lots of profitable but out of reach food that no other animal was exploiting

36
Q

How did the New Caledonian Crows handle the situation

A

Filled the vacant woodpecker0like niche by adopting tool use

37
Q

What two factors helped NC Crows to use tools

A

Pre-disposition to tool use due to their cognition/anatomy

Lack of predators

38
Q

How did lack of predators help NC Crows use tools

A

Allowed them to invest time into freely exploring, manipulating, and learning to use objects

39
Q

What is tool manufacture? Which animal uses it and how?

A

Structural modification of an object or existing tool so that the object serves, or serves more effectively, as a tool

New Caledonian Crow - crafted hook

40
Q

What is tool set? Which animal uses it and how?

A

Two+ tools used sequentially to achieve a single outcome

Chimp- Using puncturing tool then termite fishing tool

41
Q

What are sequential tools? Which animal uses it and how?

A

Tool used to acquire another tool

New Caledonian Crow - Using tool to get another tool

42
Q

What are composite tools? Which animal uses it and how?

A

2+ tools used simultaneously to achieve a single outcome

Chimp - Using stone hammer and anvil to crack nuts

43
Q

What is metatool? Which animal uses it and how?

A

A tool used simultaneously with a second tool to increase efficiency of the second tool

Chimp - using a wedge stone to stabilize an anvill

44
Q

What is multifunction tool? Which animal uses it and how?

A

A single tool used for two different functions

Chimps - Use stick tools in which different ends of the same stick are used to puncture/mash bee hives, and the other end is to dip for honey from the hive

45
Q

What does tool use show?

A

A high degree of manipulative skill

46
Q

What are the two possibilities of why animals use tools in terms of cognitive sophistication

A

Rigidly channelled by genes
Flexible problem solving

47
Q

What do lab experiments on tool use show

A

Animals use of folk physics in the context of tool use

48
Q

What are the four options for the rake task?

A
  • one rake correctly positioned/other one incorrectly positioned
  • no trap/trap
  • tines up (functional)/tines down (unfunctional)
  • Intact (functional)/broken (unfunctional)
49
Q

What is the first part of the rigid vs flimsy rake task

A

One rake has rigid material at the end (functional) and the other has flimsy material (unfunctional)

50
Q

What were the results of the first part of the rigid vs flimsy rake task

A

All but one chimp failed to reliably select the rigid tool (2000)

Most chimps select the rigid tool significantly more often than the flimsy tool (2008)

51
Q

What is the second part of the rigid vs flimsy rake task

A

Hybrid tool in an unfunctional orientation and hybrid tool in a functional orientation

52
Q

What were the results of the second part of the rigid vs flimsy rake task

A

Individual successful in 1 but fails in 2 (2000)

Performance less accurate in 2, but the group still performs above chance (2008)

53
Q

What is the trap tube task

A

Standard task where a stick is effective from one end only (there is a pit in the middle that the object can fall through)

The control condition is when the stick can be used from either end

Monkeys have to get object out of the tube

54
Q

How did capuchin monkeys perform on trap tube task

A

3 fail, 1 pass

55
Q

How did chimps perform on trap tube task

A

9 fail, 3 pass

56
Q

How did woodpecker finches perform on trap tube task

A

5 fail, 1 pass

57
Q

How did rooks perform on trap tube task AND why is this interesting

A

1 fail, 7 pass

They are a naturally non-tool-using species

58
Q

What two non tool using species also passed the trap tube task

A

Vervet monkeys
Cotton-top tamarins

59
Q

How did humans perform when given a control of the trap tube task?

A

Their choice of side was not random

60
Q

What are the implications of humans not choosing a random side in the control for trap tube

A

Failure to conform to an expectation is not necessarily a failure of casual reasoning

61
Q

What do new caledonian crows match their choice of tool length to

A

The depth at which the food is hidden

62
Q

What else impacts what tool New Caledonian crows will use

A

The diameter of the hole that they must extract food from

63
Q

Who studied whether tool users are better problem solvers than non tool users and when?

A

Teschke et al (2013)

64
Q

Describe Teschke et al’s experiment

A

Compaired two pairs of closely related species on a range of physical problem solving and general learning tasks

Wood Pecker finches (TU) vs small tree finches (NTU)

New Caledonian Crows (TU) vs Carrion Crows (NTU)

65
Q

What was Teschke et al’s prediction

A

TU species should outperform NTU species in phyical problem solving tasks but not general learning tasks

66
Q

What were the results of Teshke et al’s experiment?

A

Prediction holds for crows but not finches

67
Q

What three aspects of an animal can be effected by tool use?

A

Local ecology
Anatomy
Brain’s representation of the animal’s body

68
Q

Which animals has tool use effected the local ecology of

A

Long-tailed macaque monkeys in Thailand

69
Q

How do Long-tailed macaque monkeys use tools

A

Use stones to crack open oysters and other shellfish

70
Q

How has the Long-tailed macaque monkeys tool use effected local ecology

A

Reduced shellfish size and abundance on islands with larger monkey populations

71
Q

Which two animals had altered anatomy due to tool use

A

Hermit crabs and new caledonian crows

72
Q

Describe how tool use altered hermit crab anatomy

A

Evolved twisted bodies which are better fit to shells they use for protection

73
Q

Describe how tool use altered New Caledonian Crow anatomy

A

Greater binocular overlap and straighter beaks than other crows for enhanced tool control

74
Q

What is the question that arises when an animals anatomy is altered from tool use?

A

Is this a cause or effect relationship?

75
Q

How does tool use affect the brain’s representation of an animals body?

A

Visual receptive fields of neurons coding the schema of the hand are altered

The field extends to include areas reachable with the tool

(Tool use causes brain to perceive tools as extensions of the individual’s body)

76
Q
A

Animal Minds (17 decks)

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