Computer animations of yawning chimpanzees provoke the same irresistible grins in real chimps, according to an unusual study released last week.
“Contagious yawning” is well known among humans, and earlier studies have shown that chimps are not immune to its influence either.
But the new research is the first to show that chimpanzees couldn’t give a monkey’s if the yawn belongs to a computer animation or a real life chimp.
Matthew Campbell and colleagues of the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Lawrenceville, Georgia divided 24 chimps ranging in age from nine to 43 years old into pairs.
Each pair was exposed to animated chimps in two short 3-D videos on a 48-cm screen. Only one of the videos showed the animals yawning.
The chimps may be doing something deeper than simple imitation, for they may have an emotional tie with the cartoon character, the researchers believe.
“Contagious yawning is controlled by the same mechanism that makes emotions contagious,” the study notes. “Our results strongly suggest an empathetic response to the animations.”
The technique could provide an important tool for exploring animal behavior and cognition, the study adds.
The study is published in a British scientific journal, Proceedings of the Royal Society B.(AFP)
上週公佈的一項特別研究指出,黑猩猩看到動畫中的黑猩猩打哈欠,也會不由自主地跟著張開嘴巴。
「打哈欠會傳染」廣為「人」知,之前的研究顯示,這個現象也適用在黑猩猩身上。
但根據這項最新的研究顯示,黑猩猩根本不管打哈欠的是真正的黑猩猩,還是電腦動畫。
喬治亞州勞倫斯維爾市耶基斯全國靈長類研究中心的馬修.坎伯和同仁,將二十四隻九到四十三歲的黑猩猩,依年齡區分成兩兩一組。
每一組黑猩猩都被安排觀看在四十八公分螢幕上播放的兩段3-D黑猩猩動畫短片,其中只有一段短片裡的黑猩猩會打哈欠。
研究學者相信,這些黑猩猩同樣做出打哈欠的動作可能不僅止於模仿,而是和影片中的動畫角色有了情感上的連結。
研究中特別指出:「打哈欠傳染和情緒傳染是由身體的同一套機制所控制。而我們的結果明顯反映,黑猩猩對動畫猩猩產生移情反應。」
研究還指出,這種科技能作為探索動物行為和感知的重要工具。
這項研究刊登於英國科學期刊《英國皇家學會學報B刊》上。
(法新社╱翻譯:袁星塵)
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