| Records |
Author  |
Bonnie, K.E.; Horner, V.; Whiten, A.; de Waal, F.B.M. |
| Title |
Spread of arbitrary conventions among chimpanzees: a controlled experiment |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2007 |
Publication |
Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc Biol Sci |
| Volume |
274 |
Issue |
1608 |
Pages |
367-372 |
| Keywords |
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| Abstract |
Wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) have a rich cultural repertoire--traditions common in some communities are not present in others. The majority of reports describe functional, material traditions, such as tool use. Arbitrary conventions have received far less attention. In the same way that observations of material culture in wild apes led to experiments to confirm social transmission and identify underlying learning mechanisms, experiments investigating how arbitrary habits or conventions arise and spread within a group are also required. The few relevant experimental studies reported thus far have relied on cross-species (i.e. human-ape) interaction offering limited ecological validity, and no study has successfully generated a tradition not involving tool use in an established group. We seeded one of two rewarded alternative endpoints to a complex sequence of behaviour in each of two chimpanzee groups. Each sequence spread in the group in which it was seeded, with many individuals unambiguously adopting the sequence demonstrated by a group member. In one group, the alternative sequence was discovered by a low ranking female, but was not learned by others. Since the action-sequences lacked meaning before the experiment and had no logical connection with reward, chimpanzees must have extracted both the form and benefits of these sequences through observation of others. |
| Address |
Living Links, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA. kebonni@emory.edu |
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English |
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| ISSN |
0962-8452 |
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| Notes |
PMID:17164200 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
157 |
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| Author |
Horner, V.; Whiten, A. |
| Title |
Learning from others' mistakes limits on understanding a trap-tube task by young chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and children (Homo sapiens) |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2007 |
Publication |
Journal of comparative psychology |
Abbreviated Journal |
J Comp Psychol |
| Volume |
121 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
12-21 |
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| Abstract |
A trap-tube task was used to determine whether chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and children (Homo sapiens) who observed a model's errors and successes could master the task in fewer trials than those who saw only successes. Two- to 7-year-old chimpanzees and 3- to 4-year-old children did not benefit from observing errors and found the task difficult. Two of the 6 chimpanzees developed a successful anticipatory strategy but showed no evidence of representing the core causal relations involved in trapping. Three- to 4-year-old children showed a similar limitation and tended to copy the actions of the demonstrator, irrespective of their causal relevance. Five- to 6-year-old children were able to master the task but did not appear to be influenced by social learning or benefit from observing errors. |
| Address |
Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, School of Psychology, University of St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, UK. vhorner@rmy.emory.edu |
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Washington, D.C. : 1983 |
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English |
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| ISSN |
0735-7036 |
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| Notes |
PMID:17324071 |
Approved |
yes |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
728 |
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| Author |
Horner, V.; Whiten, A. |
| Title |
Causal knowledge and imitation/emulation switching in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and children (Homo sapiens) |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2005 |
Publication |
Animal cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
| Volume |
8 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
164-181 |
| Keywords |
Animals; Child Behavior; Child, Preschool; *Concept Formation; Female; Humans; *Imitative Behavior; *Learning; Male; Pan troglodytes; *Problem Solving; Psychomotor Performance; *Social Environment; Species Specificity |
| Abstract |
This study explored whether the tendency of chimpanzees and children to use emulation or imitation to solve a tool-using task was a response to the availability of causal information. Young wild-born chimpanzees from an African sanctuary and 3- to 4-year-old children observed a human demonstrator use a tool to retrieve a reward from a puzzle-box. The demonstration involved both causally relevant and irrelevant actions, and the box was presented in each of two conditions: opaque and clear. In the opaque condition, causal information about the effect of the tool inside the box was not available, and hence it was impossible to differentiate between the relevant and irrelevant parts of the demonstration. However, in the clear condition causal information was available, and subjects could potentially determine which actions were necessary. When chimpanzees were presented with the opaque box, they reproduced both the relevant and irrelevant actions, thus imitating the overall structure of the task. When the box was presented in the clear condition they instead ignored the irrelevant actions in favour of a more efficient, emulative technique. These results suggest that emulation is the favoured strategy of chimpanzees when sufficient causal information is available. However, if such information is not available, chimpanzees are prone to employ a more comprehensive copy of an observed action. In contrast to the chimpanzees, children employed imitation to solve the task in both conditions, at the expense of efficiency. We suggest that the difference in performance of chimpanzees and children may be due to a greater susceptibility of children to cultural conventions, perhaps combined with a differential focus on the results, actions and goals of the demonstrator. |
| Address |
Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, School of Psychology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9JU, UK. vkh1@st-andrews.ac.uk |
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English |
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| ISSN |
1435-9448 |
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| Notes |
PMID:15549502 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
732 |
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| Author |
Horner, V.; Whiten, A.; Flynn, E.; de Waal, F.B.M. |
| Title |
Faithful replication of foraging techniques along cultural transmission chains by chimpanzees and children |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |
| Volume |
103 |
Issue |
37 |
Pages |
13878-13883 |
| Keywords |
Animals; Child, Preschool; Humans; *Imitative Behavior; Pan troglodytes/*psychology |
| Abstract |
Observational studies of wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) have revealed population-specific differences in behavior, thought to represent cultural variation. Field studies have also reported behaviors indicative of cultural learning, such as close observation of adult skills by infants, and the use of similar foraging techniques within a population over many generations. Although experimental studies have shown that chimpanzees are able to learn complex behaviors by observation, it is unclear how closely these studies simulate the learning environment found in the wild. In the present study we have used a diffusion chain paradigm, whereby a behavior is passed from one individual to the next in a linear sequence in an attempt to simulate intergenerational transmission of a foraging skill. Using a powerful three-group, two-action methodology, we found that alternative methods used to obtain food from a foraging device (“lift door” versus “slide door”) were accurately transmitted along two chains of six and five chimpanzees, respectively, such that the last chimpanzee in the chain used the same method as the original trained model. The fidelity of transmission within each chain is remarkable given that several individuals in the no-model control group were able to discover either method by individual exploration. A comparative study with human children revealed similar results. This study is the first to experimentally demonstrate the linear transmission of alternative foraging techniques by non-human primates. Our results show that chimpanzees have a capacity to sustain local traditions across multiple simulated generations. |
| Address |
Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, School of Psychology, University of St. Andrews, Fife KY16 9JP, United Kingdom |
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English |
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0027-8424 |
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| Notes |
PMID:16938863 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
159 |
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| Author |
Whiten, A.; Horner, V.; de Waal, F.B.M. |
| Title |
Conformity to cultural norms of tool use in chimpanzees |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2005 |
Publication |
Nature |
Abbreviated Journal |
Nature |
| Volume |
437 |
Issue |
7059 |
Pages |
737-740 |
| Keywords |
Aging/physiology; Animals; Culture; Feeding Behavior/physiology; Female; Pan troglodytes/*physiology/*psychology; *Social Conformity; Technology; Time Factors |
| Abstract |
Rich circumstantial evidence suggests that the extensive behavioural diversity recorded in wild great apes reflects a complexity of cultural variation unmatched by species other than our own. However, the capacity for cultural transmission assumed by this interpretation has remained difficult to test rigorously in the field, where the scope for controlled experimentation is limited. Here we show that experimentally introduced technologies will spread within different ape communities. Unobserved by group mates, we first trained a high-ranking female from each of two groups of captive chimpanzees to adopt one of two different tool-use techniques for obtaining food from the same 'Pan-pipe' apparatus, then re-introduced each female to her respective group. All but two of 32 chimpanzees mastered the new technique under the influence of their local expert, whereas none did so in a third population lacking an expert. Most chimpanzees adopted the method seeded in their group, and these traditions continued to diverge over time. A subset of chimpanzees that discovered the alternative method nevertheless went on to match the predominant approach of their companions, showing a conformity bias that is regarded as a hallmark of human culture. |
| Address |
Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, School of Psychology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9JP, UK. a.whiten@st-and.ac.uk |
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English |
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| ISSN |
1476-4687 |
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| Notes |
PMID:16113685 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
163 |
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| Author |
Whiten, A.; Horner, V.; Litchfield, C.A.; Marshall-Pescini, S. |
| Title |
How do apes ape? |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Learning & Behavior |
Abbreviated Journal |
Learn. Behav. |
| Volume |
32 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
36-52 |
| Keywords |
Adaptation, Psychological; Animals; Behavior, Animal; Hominidae/*psychology; *Imitative Behavior; Imprinting (Psychology); *Learning; Psychological Theory; *Social Environment; *Social Facilitation |
| Abstract |
In the wake of telling critiques of the foundations on which earlier conclusions were based, the last 15 years have witnessed a renaissance in the study of social learning in apes. As a result, we are able to review 31 experimental studies from this period in which social learning in chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans has been investigated. The principal question framed at the beginning of this era, Do apes ape? has been answered in the affirmative, at least in certain conditions. The more interesting question now is, thus, How do apes ape? Answering this question has engendered richer taxonomies of the range of social-learning processes at work and new methodologies to uncover them. Together, these studies suggest that apes ape by employing a portfolio of alternative social-learning processes in flexibly adaptive ways, in conjunction with nonsocial learning. We conclude by sketching the kind of decision tree that appears to underlie the deployment of these alternatives. |
| Address |
Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, Scottish Primate Research Group, School of Psychology, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland. a.whiten@st-and.ac.uk |
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English |
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1543-4494 |
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| Notes |
PMID:15161139 |
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
734 |
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