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How do apes ape?

Andrew Whiten1, Victoria Horner, Carla A Litchfield

  • 1Centre 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

Learning & Behavior
|May 27, 2004
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Recent research confirms that apes do learn socially, and this review explores how they do it. Studies reveal apes use diverse social learning strategies flexibly, alongside other learning methods.

Area of Science:

  • Primatology
  • Cognitive Ethology
  • Behavioral Ecology

Background:

  • A resurgence in ape social learning research followed critiques of earlier studies.
  • Thirty-one experimental studies from the last 15 years on chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans are reviewed.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To address the question of how apes learn socially, moving beyond whether they do.
  • To synthesize findings on the diverse social learning mechanisms employed by apes.

Main Methods:

  • Review of 31 experimental studies on social learning in great apes.
  • Analysis of methodologies used to investigate ape social learning.

Main Results:

  • The question 'Do apes ape?' is answered affirmatively under specific conditions.

Related Experiment Videos

  • A richer understanding of the range of social learning processes in apes has emerged.
  • Apes utilize a flexible portfolio of social learning strategies combined with non-social learning.

    • Conclusions:

    • Apes demonstrate flexible and adaptive use of multiple social learning strategies.
    • The findings suggest a decision-making process underlies the selection of learning strategies.
    • Future research can explore the underlying "decision tree" for social learning in apes.