ArticlePloS one2018
Exploring attentional bias towards threatening faces in chimpanzees using the dot probe task.
Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- Designing research interfaces for non-human minds: a biocentric design approach for animal cognition research.Animal cognition · 2026Review
- Recognising depression in non-human primates: a narrative review of reported signs of depression.PeerJ · 2025Review
- Selective and prolonged attention to emotional scenes in humans and bonobos.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Article
- No immediate attentional bias towards or choice bias for male secondary sexual characteristics in Bornean orang-utans (Pongo pygmaeus).Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Gaze into social bonds: Unlocking great ape emotions through eye-tracking.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Do chimpanzees see a face on Mars? A search for face pareidolia in chimpanzees.Animal cognition · 2023Article
- No Evidence for Biased Attention Towards Emotional Scenes in Bornean Orangutans (Affective science · 2022Article
- Introduction to Special Issue on Affective Science in Animals: Toward a Greater Understanding of Affective Processes in Non-Human Animals.Affective science · 2022Article
- Testing for the "Blues": Using the Modified Emotional Stroop Task to Assess the Emotional Response of Gorillas.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022Article
- Familiarity mediates apes' attentional biases toward human faces.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2022Article
- Do zoo visitors induce attentional bias effects in primates completing cognitive tasks?Animal cognition · 2021Article
- Measuring affect-related cognitive bias: Do mice in opposite affective states react differently to negative and positive stimuli?PloS one · 2019Article
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2 authors.
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Abstract
Primates have evolved to rapidly detect and respond to danger in their environment. However, the mechanisms involved in attending to threatening stimuli are not fully understood. The dot-probe task is one of the most widely used experimental paradigms to investigate these mechanisms in humans. However, to date, few studies have been conducted in non-human primates. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the dot-probe task can measure attentional biases towards threatening faces in chimpanzees. Eight adult chimpanzees participated in a series of touch screen dot-probe tasks. We predicted faster response times towards chimpanzee threatening faces relative to neutral faces and faster response times towards faces of high threat intensity (scream) than low threat intensity (bared teeth). Contrary to prediction, response times for chimpanzee threatening faces relative to neutral faces did not differ. In addition, we found no difference in response times for faces of high and low threat intensity. In conclusion, we found no evidence that the touch screen dot-probe task can measure attentional biases specifically towards threatening faces in our chimpanzees. Methodological limitations of using the task to measure emotional attention in human and non-human primates, including stimulus threat intensity, emotional state, stimulus presentation duration and manual responding are discussed.
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