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Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) develop a successful communicative strategy to collaborate

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Melis, Alicia P. and Tomasello, Michael (2019) Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) develop a successful communicative strategy to collaborate. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 286 (1901). doi:10.1098/rspb.2019.0408 ISSN 0962-8452.

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.0408

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Abstract

Successful collaboration often relies on individuals’ capacity to communicate with each other. Despite extensive research on chimpanzee communication, there is little evidence that chimpanzees are capable, without extensive human training, of regulating collaborative activities via communication. This study investigated whether pairs of chimpanzees were capable of communicating to ensure coordination during collaborative problem-solving. The chimpanzee pairs needed two tools to extract fruits from an apparatus. The communicator in each pair could see the location of the tools (hidden in one of two boxes), whereas only the recipient could open the boxes. The subjects were first successfully tested for their capacity to understand the pointing gestures of a human who indicated the location of the tools. In a subsequent conspecifics test, the communicator increasingly communicated the tools’ location, by approaching the baited box and giving the key needed to open it to the recipients. The recipient used these signals and obtained the tools, transferring one of the tools to the communicator so that the pair could collaborate in obtaining the fruits. The study suggests that chimpanzees have the necessary socio-cognitive skills to naturally develop a simple communicative strategy to ensure coordination in a collaborative task.

Item Type: Journal Article
Divisions: Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School > Behavioural Science
Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School
Journal or Publication Title: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Publisher: The Royal Society Publishing
ISSN: 0962-8452
Official Date: 17 April 2019
Dates:
DateEvent
17 April 2019Published
27 March 2019Accepted
Volume: 286
Number: 1901
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.0408
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access
Copyright Holders: The Authors
Date of first compliant deposit: 24 April 2019
Date of first compliant Open Access: 24 April 2019

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