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Breaking conversational rules matters to captive gorillas: A playback experiment
Loïc Pougnault1,2,3, Florence Levréro4, Baptiste Mulot5
1Univ Rennes, Normandie Univ, CNRS, EthoS (Éthologie animale et humaine) - UMR 6552, F-35000, Rennes, France. loic.pougnault@univ-rennes1.fr.
Scientific Reports
|April 26, 2020
Summary
Gorillas follow conversational rules, respecting response delays in vocal interactions. This suggests vocal turn-taking abilities may have evolved alongside complex social behaviors in primates.
Area of Science:
- Primate communication
- Animal behavior
- Evolutionary biology
Background:
- Conversational rules are universal in human cultures, suggesting biological underpinnings.
- Comparisons with nonhuman animals, particularly great apes, are crucial for understanding evolutionary origins.
- Previous research indicated temporal and social rules in western lowland gorilla soft call interactions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To experimentally investigate conversational rules in a captive gorilla group.
- To assess the importance of response delay and age proximity in gorilla vocal interactions.
- To explore the role of learning in the development of these conversational abilities.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a violation-of-expectation paradigm to study gorilla vocal interactions.
- Monitored head orientation responses as an indicator of rule adherence.
- Analyzed response intensity in relation to subject age and interaction context.
Main Results:
- Gorillas demonstrated a clear respect for response delays, indicating its importance.
- The significance of interlocutor age proximity was less conclusive.
- Response intensity varied with subject age, suggesting a role for learning.
Conclusions:
- Findings support the importance of vocal turn-taking in animals.
- Suggests a potential sociogenesis of conversational abilities in primates.
- Highlights the role of "conversation" in the co-evolution of communication and social complexity.
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