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Updated: Sep 29, 2026

A Common Marmoset Model of Mother-Infant Intervention for Breastfeeding Disorders in the Presence of Paternal Inhibition and Maternal Neglect
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Mother-infant interactions in western Lowland Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla): spatial relationships,

Dario Maestripieri1, Stephen K Ross, Nancy L Megna

  • 1Committee on Human Development, University of Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA. dario@uchicago.edu

Journal of Comparative Psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983)
|September 18, 2002
PubMed

This study investigated mother-infant interactions in lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) with particular focus on the relative role of mothers and infants in creating situations that are potentially conducive to infant social learning. Eleven gorilla mother-infant dyads were focally observed in weekly 1-hr sessions for 12 months. Spatial relationships were affected by age as well as by ambient temperature. Although the youngest infant was encouraged by its mother to walk and climb, mothers showed little or no encouragement in other contexts. In contrast, infants were quite interested in their mothers' activities, on some occasions repeated their mother's behavior, and actively encouraged their mothers to share food, play, or follow them. These findings suggest that gorilla infants are more active than their mothers in creating situations that are potentially conducive to the acquisition of knowledge or skills.

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