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Using robots to understand animal cognition
Author(s) -
Frohnwieser Anna,
Murray John C.,
Pike Thomas W.,
Wilkinson Anna
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of the experimental analysis of behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1938-3711
pISSN - 0022-5002
DOI - 10.1002/jeab.193
Subject(s) - animal cognition , cognition , perception , robot , comparative psychology , comparative cognition , variety (cybernetics) , social cognition , psychology , field (mathematics) , cognitive science , stimulus (psychology) , computer science , cognitive psychology , artificial intelligence , neuroscience , mathematics , pure mathematics
In recent years, robotic animals and humans have been used to answer a variety of questions related to behavior. In the case of animal behavior, these efforts have largely been in the field of behavioral ecology. They have proved to be a useful tool for this enterprise as they allow the presentation of naturalistic social stimuli whilst providing the experimenter with full control of the stimulus. In interactive experiments, the behavior of robots can be controlled in a manner that is impossible with real animals, making them ideal instruments for the study of social stimuli in animals. This paper provides an overview of the current state of the field and considers the impact that the use of robots could have on fundamental questions related to comparative psychology: namely, perception, spatial cognition, social cognition, and early cognitive development. We make the case that the use of robots to investigate these key areas could have an important impact on the field of animal cognition.