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Related Experiment Videos

Image scoring in great apes.

Yvan I Russell1, Josep Call, Robin I M Dunbar

  • 1British Academy Centenary Research Project, School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool L69 7ZB, UK. yvanrussell@gmail.com

Behavioural Processes
|December 11, 2007
PubMed
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Great apes may assess social reputation. Chimpanzees preferentially associated with a "nice" human actor over a "nasty" one, suggesting rudimentary image scoring behavior in this species.

Area of Science:

  • Primate cognition
  • Comparative psychology
  • Animal behavior

Background:

  • Image scoring, where individuals monitor others' giving behavior, is crucial for social reputation assessment in humans.
  • Understanding if non-human primates exhibit similar social monitoring abilities provides insights into the evolutionary origins of complex social cognition.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the presence of 'image scoring' behavior in great apes, specifically chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans.
  • To determine if apes can assess and react to the prosocial or antisocial behavior of others towards a third party.

Main Methods:

  • Subjects observed staged events where a human actor either generously gave food (nice) or refused to give food (nasty) to a beggar.
  • Following these observations, apes could approach either the nice or nasty actor, who were both holding food.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Behavioral preference was measured by the proportion of time apes spent near each actor, inferring expectations of food sharing.

    • Main Results:

    • Chimpanzees (n=17) demonstrated a significant preference for spending more time near the 'nice' human actor compared to the 'nasty' actor.
    • The preference for the 'nasty' actor decreased over successive trials in chimpanzees.
    • Statistical significance was not reached for bonobos, gorillas, or orangutans in this study.

    Conclusions:

    • Chimpanzees exhibit evidence of 'image scoring', suggesting they can assess and remember the prosocial reputations of others.
    • This finding indicates that the capacity for social reputation assessment may be present in species beyond humans.
    • Further research is needed to explore these behaviors in other great ape species.