Harvard University cognitive scientist Marc Hauser may have fabricated data in a 2002 publication, according to Gerry Altmann, editor of the journal Cognition. Altmann posted a statement on his blog saying that his review of information provided to him by Harvard had convinced him that fabrication was the most plausible explanation for data in a 2002 Cognition paper. The journal has already announced plans to retract the paper.
Hauser's research explores the evolutionary roots of human cognitive abilities. According to a report published in Boston Globe, the paper in question tested the ability of cotton-top tamarins to distinguish between two 'grammars', or patterns of syllables. Each monkey was trained on one grammar, and during the test was supposed to be exposed to sequences from two different ones. The findings fit with a broader theme in Hauser's work: that the cognitive gap between humans and monkeys is not as great as widely supposed.
According to Altmann, the Harvard investigators reviewed videotapes of the experiments, and found no evidence that a key experimental condition reported in the paper had ever been run.
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