Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 16, 2026

Peering into the Dynamics of Social Interactions: Measuring Play Fighting in Rats
Published on: January 18, 2013
Social and solitary play in a colony of vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops)
1The University of Calgary, Canada.
Abstract:
This study describes and defines play in a laboratory colony of vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops). Play is divided into 26 units of behavior and the frequencies of these behaviors are recorded. Analysis shows that sex, age, and dominance have effects on some play behaviors. The play behavior of each age/sex group within the colony is described both quantitatively and qualitatively. Adult females are characterized by reinforcement of the play of immature monkeys, adult males by rough play with older male juveniles, four-year-old females and three-year-old males by stimulation of play in young infants, and males in general by a preference to play within their peer group. It is suggested that modified repetition of behaviors, diversified interactions, and innovative behaviors, are important qualities of play, and are essential to the adaptive plasticity of behavior in primates.
More Related Videos
08:42Assessment of Social Cognition in Non-human Primates Using a Network of Computerized Automated Learning Device ALDM Test Systems
Published on: May 5, 2015
05:04A Common Marmoset Model of Mother-Infant Intervention for Breastfeeding Disorders in the Presence of Paternal Inhibition and Maternal Neglect
Published on: September 22, 2023
Related Concept Videos
Social Foundations of Self I: Play and Game
Epiphytes, Parasites, and Carnivores
Socioemotional Development during Infancy
Primary Temperament Types
Social Exchange Theory
Social Exchange Theory
Causes of Social Behavior II: Cognitive Processes