Affiliation:
1. Section of Language and Intelligence, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Japan
2. Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
3. Center for International Collaboration and Advanced Studies in Primatology, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Japan
Abstract
Conceptual metaphors are linguistic constructions. Such a metaphor is humans’ mental representation of social rank as a pyramidal-like structure. High-ranked individuals are represented in higher positions than low-ranked individuals. We show that conceptual metaphorical mapping between social rank and the representational domain exists in our closest evolutionary relatives, the chimpanzees. Chimpanzee participants were requested to discriminate face identities in a vertical arrangement. We found a modulation of response latencies by the rank of the presented individual and the position on the display: a high-ranked individual presented in the higher and a low-ranked individual in the lower position led to quicker identity discrimination than a high-ranked individual in the lower and a low-ranked individual in the higher position. Such a spatial representation of dominance hierarchy in chimpanzees suggests that a natural tendency to systematically map an abstract dimension exists in the common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees.
Funder
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan
Grant-in-Aid for Specially Promoted Research by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (S) by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B) by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
JSPS fellow by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Publisher
eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
Subject
General Immunology and Microbiology,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology,General Medicine,General Neuroscience
Cited by
26 articles.
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