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How chimpanzees cooperate in a competitive world.

Malini Suchak1, Timothy M Eppley2, Matthew W Campbell3

  • 1Living Links, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, GA 30322; Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322; Department of Animal Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation, Canisius College, Buffalo, NY 14208; suchakm@canisius.edu dewaal@emory.edu.

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|August 24, 2016
PubMed
Summary

Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) demonstrate cooperation by employing enforcement mechanisms like punishment and partner choice, similar to humans. These behaviors help mitigate competition, even in group settings with opportunities for conflict.

Keywords:
Pan troglodytesenforcementfreeloadingpartner choicepunishment

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Area of Science:

  • Primate behavior
  • Evolutionary psychology
  • Social cognition

Background:

  • Humans are often seen as uniquely cooperative, while chimpanzees are considered highly competitive.
  • Human cooperation is facilitated by enforcement mechanisms that penalize competition.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether chimpanzees possess similar abilities to mitigate competition and foster cooperation.
  • To examine the enforcement mechanisms chimpanzees use in a cooperative task.

Main Methods:

  • A cooperative task was designed requiring joint effort from two or three chimpanzees for rewards.
  • The task was conducted in an open-group setting with 11 adult chimpanzees to allow for natural social interactions and competition.
  • Cooperative acts, competitive acts (freeloading, displacements), and enforcement mechanisms were recorded.

Main Results:

  • Cooperation prevailed over competition, occurring at least five times more frequently.
  • Chimpanzees engaged in 3,565 cooperative acts, utilizing direct protest, third-party punishment by dominant individuals, and partner choice to manage freeloading.
  • Responses to freeloading (withdrawal, third-party intervention) differed from responses to displacement (direct retaliation).

Conclusions:

  • Chimpanzees possess sophisticated mechanisms to mitigate competition and promote cooperation within their social groups.
  • These findings suggest shared evolutionary roots for cooperative behaviors and conflict resolution strategies in humans and chimpanzees.
  • Enforcement mechanisms play a crucial role in enabling cooperation by managing competitive tendencies across primate species.