Intelligent Object Exploration

Tool use is considered to be the hallmark of higher cognitive abilities (compare e.g. Blaisdell, 2008). It is therefore the target of an extensive body of work in psychology. The mechanisms that enable the discovery of affordances in humans and animals are still not fully understood. Tool use has been observed predominantly in primates but also in other animals such as crows. Weir and Kacelnik (2007), for instance, report on a New Caledonian Crow modifying aluminum strips in order to retrieve food. The crow correctly chooses between bending and unbending aluminum strips, depending on the specific type of jar it is presented with. Studies on tool use suggest that the potential application of objects to achieve manipulation objectives can be discovered through exploration. When an affordance of an object is discovered, it becomes a tool.