About This Project

An animals' "umwelt" is the way in which they perceive the world. With the use of eye-tracking technology, we will present the gorillas with different images to explore the ways in which gorillas see and respond to their world. The overarching goal of this project is to determine visual processing patterns in the gorillas at the Buffalo Zoo and expand our understanding of how they see their world. In other words, this study aims to further our current understanding of the “gorilla umwelt.”

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

Eye-tracking is used to evaluate the ways in which humans see and process the world. These methods have previously been used in other great apes (primarily chimpanzees). Chimpanzees and humans show similarities and differences in scan patterns. For example, chimpanzees respond more to cues from other chimpanzees, whereas humans respond equally to both species. Few studies have attempted to use this method in gorillas. By exploring the ways in which gorillas respond to familiar and unfamiliar images, we can begin to explore how gorillas see their world, and what images are meaningful to them. Methods already well-validated in humans can be applied to shed light on salient features of the visual world and allow us to explore how these stimuli may impact gorilla behavior.

What is the significance of this project?

This type of research offers an amazing opportunity to actually see what another species sees! From the time we are children, we constantly wonder, “What is that animal thinking?” and until recently we have had to accept that we just can’t know. Through the use of eye-tracking technology, it is now possible to learn how an animal views their world! For example, do gorillas respond differently with respect to how long, or where they look on an image of a familiar versus an unfamiliar gorilla? What about images of familiar or unfamiliar humans? Or facial expressions? We hope that this investigation will provide insights into how gorillas view and interpret the world, and that we can use this information to modify zoo environments to provide positive stimulation and interaction.

What are the goals of the project?

Our goal is to initiate a long-term investigation at the Buffalo Zoo in Buffalo NY. We will begin by first confirming that gorillas will focus on an image on a screen. Then, using Tobii eye-tracking equipment, we will measure gorillas’ gaze duration and location within the images displayed on a screen. We will compare individual differences as well as responses based on age or position in the troop. We will first start with images of familiar and unfamiliar gorillas, then continue with a range of stimuli as the study progresses. Some of the stimuli we hope to use include faces of familiar and unfamiliar humans and gorillas, as well as some videos of gorillas in action. We hope to learn how visual attention relates to a gorilla’s response to varying situations.