TY - JOUR
T1 - Chimpanzees' behavioral flexibility, social tolerance, and use of tool-composites in a progressively challenging foraging problem
AU - Harrison, Rachel A.
AU - van Leeuwen, Edwin J.C.
AU - Whiten, Andrew
N1 - Funding Information:
We are grateful to the Chimfunshi Board of Trustees and the Chimfunshi Research Advisory Board for permission to conduct this study at the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage, and to the Chimfunshi keepers for all their assistance. We thank Claire Pittet for second coding. This work was supported by a John Templeton Foundation , USA, grant ID 40128 to A.W. and K. Laland. R.A.H. is currently supported by a Swiss National Science Foundation , Switzerland, grant ( PP00P3_170624 ) awarded to Erica van de Waal. E.J.C.v.L. is currently funded by a Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), Belgium.
Funding Information:
We are grateful to the Chimfunshi Board of Trustees and the Chimfunshi Research Advisory Board for permission to conduct this study at the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage, and to the Chimfunshi keepers for all their assistance. We thank Claire Pittet for second coding. This work was supported by a John Templeton Foundation, USA, grant ID 40128 to A.W. and K. Laland. R.A.H. is currently supported by a Swiss National Science Foundation, Switzerland, grant (PP00P3_170624) awarded to Erica van de Waal. E.J.C.v.L. is currently funded by a Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), Belgium. Conceptualization: R.A.H. E.J.C.v.L. and A.W.; Methodology: R.A.H. E.J.C.v.L. and A.W.; Investigation: R.A.H.; Writing ? Original Draft: R.A.H.; Writing ? Review & Editing: R.A.H. E.J.C.v.L. and A.W.; Funding Acquisition: A.W.; Supervision: A.W. The authors declare no competing interests.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s)
PY - 2021/2/19
Y1 - 2021/2/19
N2 - Behavioral flexibility is a critical ability allowing animals to respond to changes in their environment. Previous studies have found evidence of inflexibility when captive chimpanzees are faced with changing task parameters. We provided two groups of sanctuary-housed chimpanzees with a foraging task in which solutions were restricted over time. Initially, juice could be retrieved from within a tube by hand or by using tool materials, but effective solutions were then restricted by narrowing the tube, necessitating the abandonment of previous solutions and adoption of new ones. Chimpanzees responded flexibly, but one group increased their use of effective techniques to a greater extent than the other. Tool-composite techniques emerged in both groups, but primarily in the more flexible group. The more flexible group also showed higher rates of socio-positive behaviors at the task. In conjunction, these findings support the hypothesis that social tolerance may facilitate the emergence and spread of novel behaviors.
AB - Behavioral flexibility is a critical ability allowing animals to respond to changes in their environment. Previous studies have found evidence of inflexibility when captive chimpanzees are faced with changing task parameters. We provided two groups of sanctuary-housed chimpanzees with a foraging task in which solutions were restricted over time. Initially, juice could be retrieved from within a tube by hand or by using tool materials, but effective solutions were then restricted by narrowing the tube, necessitating the abandonment of previous solutions and adoption of new ones. Chimpanzees responded flexibly, but one group increased their use of effective techniques to a greater extent than the other. Tool-composite techniques emerged in both groups, but primarily in the more flexible group. The more flexible group also showed higher rates of socio-positive behaviors at the task. In conjunction, these findings support the hypothesis that social tolerance may facilitate the emergence and spread of novel behaviors.
KW - Animals
KW - Biological Sciences
KW - Ethology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85099626526&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102033
DO - 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102033
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85099626526
SN - 2589-0042
VL - 24
SP - 1
EP - 52
JO - iScience
JF - iScience
IS - 2
M1 - 102033
ER -