An eye-tracking study of visual attention in chimpanzees and bonobos when viewing different tool-using techniques

Abstract Chimpanzees and bonobos are excellent tool users and can socially learn various skills. Previous studies on social learning mainly measure success/failure in acquiring new techniques, with less direct measurement of proximate mechanisms like visual attention during the process. This study investigates how great apes observe tool-using demonstrations through eye-tracking. After checking initial techniques, six chimpanzees and six bonobos were shown video demonstrations of human demonstrators using a tube to dip (low-efficiency) or suck (high-efficiency) juice, and then tried the task themselves. Attention to each video was compared to participants’ knowledge. Although no individuals acquired the high-efficiency technique through video demonstrations, eye-tracking results revealed attentional differences between individuals familiar with different techniques. Compared with individuals already familiar with both techniques, individuals knowing only the dipping technique showed less attention to the unfamiliar sucking technique. This result indicates that apes may not attend much to what they do not know well, which aligns with reported interplay of action observation and understanding. Attentional patterns to the action part of the two techniques was non-significant between species, though bonobos looked marginally more at faces and chimpanzees looked significantly more at food. This study highlights the importance of conducting detailed investigations into social learning processes, with eye-tracking as one valuable method.