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. 2003;41(2):229-34.
doi: 10.1016/s0028-3932(02)00153-7.

An 8-year longitudinal study of mirror self-recognition in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Monique W de Veer  1 , Gordon G Gallup Jr, Laura A Theall, Ruud van den Bos, Daniel J Povinelli
Affiliations

An 8-year longitudinal study of mirror self-recognition in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Monique W de Veer et al. Neuropsychologia. 2003.

Abstract

In a previous cross-sectional study of mirror self-recognition involving 92 chimpanzees, Povinelli et al. [Journal of Comparative Psychology 107 (1993) 347] reported a peak in the proportion of animals exhibiting self-recognition in the adolescent/young adult sample (8-15 years), with 75% being classified as positive. In contrast, only 26% of the older animals (16-39 years) were classified as positive, suggesting a marked decline in self-recognition in middle to late adulthood. In the present study, all of the chimpanzees from the 8-15-year-old group in the Povinelli et al. study (n=12) were again tested for self-recognition, 8 years later. Using the same criteria, 67% of the animals were classified the same. Although a higher proportion of the adult animals in this study (50%) exhibited self-recognition than would be inferred on the basis of the previous study (25%), all changes in self-recognition status were in the negative direction. These results show that mirror self-recognition is a highly stable trait in many chimpanzees, but may be subject to decline with age. Connections with human research are briefly discussed.

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