“Addressing questions about primate cognition and behavior between both field and lab, the use of virtual reality creates simulated scenarios synthesizing aspects of ecological conditions under controlled laboratory settings. I will present a spatial cognitive-foraging study, a ‘Virtual Rainforest’, inspired by primate fieldwork to test hypotheses in the lab that would be difficult to assess under field conditions. I will also briefly present the framework for a second virtual reality study on wild great ape gestures similarly inspired by primate fieldwork.

In the Virtual Rainforest study, we asked, how do captive apes’ exploration in complex environments and spatial memory compare with wild apes’ dynamic challenges (competitors, seasonality, and food availability) when navigating between multiple foraging sites? And, what effect does the captive environment have on the development of spatial cognitive abilities? We investigated by using simulations of captive bonobos’ real-world habitats. Assessing navigation in a virtual “rainforest” presents a unique opportunity to examine ape cognitive abilities in exploration of novel complex environments, attention to landmarks, and capacity to generate and encode novel routes. In our study, captive bonobos explored a virtual rainforest comprised of three regions: dense, moderate dense, and savannah-like area. Virtual fruits (mango, cherry, grape) were located region-specific, and each were associated with specific auditory cues, bird calls. The food rewards matched the selected virtual fruits. Moving prey (e.g., red river hogs) shifted between regions creating complexity and a dynamic habitat. The bonobos were presented with three 12-minute trials/day, each trial mirroring daybreak to sundown. Individualized start locations began where each bonobo’s trial previously ended. The bonobos were highly attentive during virtual exploration and traveled to localized areas of preferred over non-preferred foods suggesting goal-oriented navigation in this virtual mini-world. Additionally, within trials, bonobos were observed to turn towards items previously seen but not presently visible, demonstrating object permanence of visual+directional memory within a virtual space. We compare our results with wild chimpanzee goal-directed navigation to foraging sites.

As a model for what is possible, I will briefly present a framework for a future study using bonobo avatars to demonstrate wild ape gestures to captive apes to determine their responsiveness. In summary, I will highlight the novel use of virtual reality to assess and compare cognition across ecologies, species and populations, and between individuals with different experiential and developmental trajectories.”

Dr. Francine Dolins, Associate Professor of Comparative Psychology, University of Michigan-Dearborn, has a PhD in Cognitive Psychology and Behavioral Primatology from the University of Stirling (Scotland) and a BSc., Honors in Biology (Behavioral Ecology, Evolutionary Theory & Animal Cognition) from the University of Sussex (England). Francine’s research focuses on primate cognition, behavior, and cognitive-ecological modeling in the field and laboratory. Her research concentrates on questions regarding spatial cognition, navigation, and foraging behavior in the context of group decision-making, self-recognition, social information transfer, and group behavior. She uses virtual reality to compare nonhuman and human primate spatial and social cognition and applies technology to enhance the welfare and environmental enrichment of captive nonhuman primates. Francine has received multiple research grants from the National Institutes on Aging, Templeton World Charity Foundation, Ford Motor Company, and the Southwest Primate National Research Center. She is lead editor on three volumes published by Cambridge University Press: Attitudes to Animals; Spatial Cognition - Spatial Perception; and Spatial Analysis in Field Primatology: Applying GIS at Varying Scales, as well as a guest editor on several special issues in the American Journal of Primatology, Frontiers, and Animal Biology. Francine teaches in the Psychology and Biopsychology programs, the Masters’ Program in Human Centered Design Studies, and is a Co-Director of the Psychology Honors Program. She is actively involved on the University of Michigan Senate and Senate committees on research, ethics, and university governance. Co-creating The Ako Project, she worked in collaboration with Dr. Alison Jolly to further conservation education in Madagascar and the United States. She is an active member of the American Society of Primatology and the International Primatological Society’s Conservation committees. She established the non profit organization, Palm-to-Palm, to reduce the use of palm oil in the Global North to protect tropical rainforests and nonhuman primate and human communities in the Global South.