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Focusing and shifting attention in human children (Homo sapiens) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).

Publication ,  Journal Article
Herrmann, E; Tomasello, M
Published in: Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983)
August 2015

Humans often must coordinate co-occurring activities, and their flexible skills for doing so would seem to be uniquely powerful. In 2 studies, we compared 4- and 5-year-old children and one of humans' nearest relatives, chimpanzees, in their ability to focus and shift their attention when necessary. The results of Study 1 showed that 4-year-old children and chimpanzees were very similar in their ability to monitor two identical devices and to sequentially switch between the two to collect a reward, and that they were less successful at doing so than 5-year-old children. In Study 2, which required subjects to alternate between two different tasks, one of which had rewards continuously available whereas the other one only occasionally released rewards, no species differences were found. These results suggest that chimpanzees and human children share some fundamental attentional control skills, but that such abilities continue to develop during human ontogeny, resulting in the uniquely human capacity to succeed at complex multitasking.

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Published In

Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983)

DOI

EISSN

1939-2087

ISSN

0735-7036

Publication Date

August 2015

Volume

129

Issue

3

Start / End Page

268 / 274

Related Subject Headings

  • Species Specificity
  • Pan troglodytes
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Executive Function
  • Child, Preschool
  • Child Development
  • Behavioral Science & Comparative Psychology
  • Behavior, Animal
 

Citation

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Herrmann, E., & Tomasello, M. (2015). Focusing and shifting attention in human children (Homo sapiens) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Journal of Comparative Psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983), 129(3), 268–274. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039384
Herrmann, Esther, and Michael Tomasello. “Focusing and shifting attention in human children (Homo sapiens) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).Journal of Comparative Psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) 129, no. 3 (August 2015): 268–74. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039384.
Herrmann E, Tomasello M. Focusing and shifting attention in human children (Homo sapiens) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, DC : 1983). 2015 Aug;129(3):268–74.
Herrmann, Esther, and Michael Tomasello. “Focusing and shifting attention in human children (Homo sapiens) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).Journal of Comparative Psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983), vol. 129, no. 3, Aug. 2015, pp. 268–74. Epmc, doi:10.1037/a0039384.
Herrmann E, Tomasello M. Focusing and shifting attention in human children (Homo sapiens) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, DC : 1983). 2015 Aug;129(3):268–274.

Published In

Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983)

DOI

EISSN

1939-2087

ISSN

0735-7036

Publication Date

August 2015

Volume

129

Issue

3

Start / End Page

268 / 274

Related Subject Headings

  • Species Specificity
  • Pan troglodytes
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Executive Function
  • Child, Preschool
  • Child Development
  • Behavioral Science & Comparative Psychology
  • Behavior, Animal