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Author Bonnie, K.E.; de Waal, F.B.M. doi  openurl
  Title Affiliation promotes the transmission of a social custom: handclasp grooming among captive chimpanzees Type Journal Article
  Year 2006 Publication Primates Abbreviated Journal Primates  
  Volume 47 Issue 1 Pages 27-34  
  Keywords Animals; Animals, Zoo/*physiology; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; *Cultural Evolution; Grooming/*physiology; Observation; Pan troglodytes/*physiology; *Social Behavior  
  Abstract Handclasp grooming is a unique social custom, known to occur regularly among some, but not all populations of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). As with other cultural behaviors, it is assumed that this distinctive grooming posture is learned socially by one individual from another. However, statistical comparisons among factors thought to influence how a behavior spreads within a group have never, to our knowledge, been conducted. In the present study, the origination and spread of handclasp grooming in a group of captive chimpanzees was followed throughout more than 1,500 h of observation over a period of 12 years. We report on the frequency, bout duration, and number and demography of performers throughout the study period, and compare these findings to those reported for wild populations. We predicted that dyads with strong affiliative ties, measured by time spent in proximity to and grooming one another, were likely to develop a handclasp grooming partnership during the study period. A quadratic assignment procedure was used to compare correlations among observed frequencies of grooming and proximity with handclasp grooming in all possible dyads within the group. As predicted, the formation of new handclasp grooming dyads was positively correlated with the rate of overall grooming and proximity within a dyad. In addition, in nearly all dyads formed, at least one individual had been previously observed to handclasp groom. We concluded that affiliation and individual experience determines the transmission of handclasp grooming among captive chimpanzees.  
  Address Department of Psychology, Emory University, and Living Links Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, GA 30329, USA. kebonni@emory.edu  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0032-8332 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes (up) PMID:16142425 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 161  
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Author Flack, J.C.; Girvan, M.; de Waal, F.B.M.; Krakauer, D.C. doi  openurl
  Title Policing stabilizes construction of social niches in primates Type Journal Article
  Year 2006 Publication Nature Abbreviated Journal Nature  
  Volume 439 Issue 7075 Pages 426-429  
  Keywords Animals; Conflict (Psychology); Female; Macaca nemestrina/*physiology/*psychology; Male; Models, Biological; *Social Behavior  
  Abstract All organisms interact with their environment, and in doing so shape it, modifying resource availability. Termed niche construction, this process has been studied primarily at the ecological level with an emphasis on the consequences of construction across generations. We focus on the behavioural process of construction within a single generation, identifying the role a robustness mechanism--conflict management--has in promoting interactions that build social resource networks or social niches. Using 'knockout' experiments on a large, captive group of pigtailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina), we show that a policing function, performed infrequently by a small subset of individuals, significantly contributes to maintaining stable resource networks in the face of chronic perturbations that arise through conflict. When policing is absent, social niches destabilize, with group members building smaller, less diverse, and less integrated grooming, play, proximity and contact-sitting networks. Instability is quantified in terms of reduced mean degree, increased clustering, reduced reach, and increased assortativity. Policing not only controls conflict, we find it significantly influences the structure of networks that constitute essential social resources in gregarious primate societies. The structure of such networks plays a critical role in infant survivorship, emergence and spread of cooperative behaviour, social learning and cultural traditions.  
  Address Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501, USA. jflack@santafe.edu  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1476-4687 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes (up) PMID:16437106 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 298  
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Author Brosnan, S.F.; Freeman, C.; De Waal, F.B.M. doi  openurl
  Title Partner's behavior, not reward distribution, determines success in an unequal cooperative task in capuchin monkeys Type Journal Article
  Year 2006 Publication American journal of primatology Abbreviated Journal Am. J. Primatol.  
  Volume 68 Issue 7 Pages 713-724  
  Keywords Animals; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Cebus/*physiology; *Cooperative Behavior; Female; Food Preferences/physiology; Male; *Reward  
  Abstract It was recently demonstrated that capuchin monkeys notice and respond to distributional inequity, a trait that has been proposed to support the evolution of cooperation in the human species. However, it is unknown how capuchins react to inequitable rewards in an unrestricted cooperative paradigm in which they may freely choose both whether to participate and, within the bounds of their partner's behavior, which reward they will receive for their participation. We tested capuchin monkeys with such a design, using a cooperative barpull, which has been used with great success in the past. Contrary to our expectations, the equity of the reward distribution did not affect success or pulling behavior. However, the behavior of the partner in an unequal situation did affect overall success rates: pairs that had a tendency to alternate which individual received the higher-value food in unequal reward situations were more than twice as successful in obtaining rewards than pairs in which one individual dominated the higher-value food. This ability to equitably distribute rewards in inherently biased cooperative situations has profound implications for activities such as group hunts, in which multiple individuals work together for a single, monopolizable reward.  
  Address Living Links Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. sbrosna@emory.edu  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0275-2565 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes (up) PMID:16786518 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 160  
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Author Horner, V.; Whiten, A.; Flynn, E.; de Waal, F.B.M. doi  openurl
  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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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0027-8424 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes (up) PMID:16938863 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 159  
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Author Plotnik, J.M.; de Waal, F.B.M.; Reiss, D. doi  openurl
  Title Self-recognition in an Asian elephant 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 45 Pages 17053-17057  
  Keywords Animals; Asia; *Behavior, Animal; Cognition; Elephants/*psychology; Female; Photic Stimulation  
  Abstract Considered an indicator of self-awareness, mirror self-recognition (MSR) has long seemed limited to humans and apes. In both phylogeny and human ontogeny, MSR is thought to correlate with higher forms of empathy and altruistic behavior. Apart from humans and apes, dolphins and elephants are also known for such capacities. After the recent discovery of MSR in dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), elephants thus were the next logical candidate species. We exposed three Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) to a large mirror to investigate their responses. Animals that possess MSR typically progress through four stages of behavior when facing a mirror: (i) social responses, (ii) physical inspection (e.g., looking behind the mirror), (iii) repetitive mirror-testing behavior, and (iv) realization of seeing themselves. Visible marks and invisible sham-marks were applied to the elephants' heads to test whether they would pass the litmus “mark test” for MSR in which an individual spontaneously uses a mirror to touch an otherwise imperceptible mark on its own body. Here, we report a successful MSR elephant study and report striking parallels in the progression of responses to mirrors among apes, dolphins, and elephants. These parallels suggest convergent cognitive evolution most likely related to complex sociality and cooperation.  
  Address Living Links, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, and Department of Psychology, Emory University, 532 North Kligo Circle, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0027-8424 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes (up) PMID:17075063 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 408  
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Author Dindo, M.; De Waal, F.B.M. doi  openurl
  Title Partner effects on food consumption in brown capuchin monkeys Type Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication American journal of primatology Abbreviated Journal Am. J. Primatol.  
  Volume 69 Issue 4 Pages 448-456  
  Keywords  
  Abstract It has been claimed that capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) show inequity aversion in relation to food rewards for a simple exchange task. However, other factors may affect the willingness of a monkey to consume foods of high or low value in the presence of a conspecific. In this study, pairs of monkeys were presented with unequally valued foods, but without any task-performance: they simply received the food under four experimental conditions. By looking at the rate of collection and consumption of low-valued cucumber slices we expected to see variation dependent on whether the partner either had 1) cucumber (equity), 2) grape (inequity), 3) inaccessible cucumber or 4) inaccessible grape. Testing 12 adult capuchin monkeys, our findings differed from those of other authors in that the monkeys failed to show negative reactions to inequity, but rather responded with scramble competition (i.e., fast food collection) in the presence of a conspecific without access to food. They also showed facilitated consumption in the presence of a conspecific consuming high-valued food. Possibly, (in)equity plays a different role if food serves as a reward for a task rather than if it is simply made available for consumption. Am. J. Primatol. 69:1-9, 2007. (c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.  
  Address Living Links, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0275-2565 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes (up) PMID:17146793 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 158  
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Author Bonnie, K.E.; Horner, V.; Whiten, A.; de Waal, F.B.M. doi  openurl
  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  
  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  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0962-8452 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes (up) PMID:17164200 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 157  
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Author Parr, L.A.; Matheson, M.D.; Bernstein, I.S.; De Waal, F.B.M. doi  openurl
  Title Grooming down the hierarchy: allogrooming in captive brown capuchin monkeys, Cebus apella Type Journal Article
  Year 1997 Publication Animal Behaviour. Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.  
  Volume 54 Issue 2 Pages 361-367  
  Keywords  
  Abstract Observations of captive female brown capuchin monkeys in five groups revealed that grooming is primarily the occupation of dominant females at both the individual and dyadic levels. When categorized according to rank class, alpha females were the only class to perform significantly more grooming than they received. These results are inconsistent with reports on vervets, baboons and macaques, and suggest that grooming in capuchin monkeys may have different functions from those reported for cercopithecine primates. A dyadic analysis revealed, however, that grooming occurred more often between closely ranked females, similar to what is seen in several Old World monkey species. Therefore, some aspects of grooming in capuchins are similar to that seen in Old World monkeys, but the way they distribute grooming is different, which may prompt a re-evaluation of current theories regarding the social function of allogrooming in non-human primates.  
  Address Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center and Department of Psychology, Emory University  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0003-3472 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes (up) PMID:9268468 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 200  
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