Using Non-Invasive Eye Tracking to Advance Comparative Social Cognition Research
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 July 2022
Visual information is important for many aspects of primate social life, including social learning, social relationships, and mate choice. Analyzing the attentional patterns of primates can provide key insights into the mechanisms underlying social interactions. Historically, primate visual attention was studied using live or videotaped looking-time paradigms, potentially prone to human error and providing only rough measures of attentional preferences. However, the application of advanced non-invasive eye-tracking methods is now gaining traction in nonhuman primates. This technology opens doors for conducting novel comparative social cognition research with greater precision than ever before, and allows us to better explore social cognition within and across species. In this chapter, we provide a brief review of previous studies of visual attention both in the field and the laboratory. We then examine ways that eye tracking has elucidated social cognitive processes in primates, with a focus on a comparative social memory paradigm used in human infants, gorillas, chimpanzees, and capuchins. We conclude by highlighting several fruitful directions for future comparative research.
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