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Assessment of Social Cognition in Non-human Primates Using a Network of Computerized Automated Learning Device ALDM Test Systems
Published on: May 5, 2015
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Social manipulation in nonhuman primates: Cognitive and motivational determinants
C J Völter1, F Rossano2, J Call1
1School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK; Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
|September 19, 2016
Summary
This study explores social manipulation in primates, categorizing behaviors along flexibility and motivational axes. Understanding these primate social interactions offers insights into cooperation and competition.
Area of Science:
- Primate behavior
- Social cognition
- Comparative psychology
Background:
- Social interactions involve complex cooperative and competitive dynamics.
- Social manipulation, using others for personal gain, is key but poorly defined.
- Existing research lacks a framework for classifying manipulation types and their drivers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To comprehensively differentiate types of social manipulation in primates.
- To map the cognitive and motivational factors underlying social manipulation.
- To establish a framework for analyzing primate social interactions.
Main Methods:
- Survey of experimental literature on nonhuman primate social interactions.
- Case study analysis of social manipulation in orangutans (Pongo abelii).
- Development of two axes: flexibility/sociality and motivational/prosociality.
Main Results:
- Social manipulation varies across a flexibility/sociality spectrum (technical problem-solving, social tool-use, communication).
- Social manipulation also varies across a motivational/prosociality spectrum (exploitation, cooperation, helping).
- These axes provide a nuanced way to understand primate social behaviors.
Conclusions:
- A dual-axis framework effectively captures diverse primate social interactions.
- This framework aids in understanding the evolution of social behavior in primates.
- Further research can apply this model to both human and nonhuman primate social dynamics.
Keywords:
CoercionCommunicationCooperationExploitationHelpingInequity aversionManipulationMotivationPrimate cognitionProblem solvingProsocialityReciprocitySocial tool useMore Related Videos
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