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The Investigation of Prosocial Behavior in a Tool Task by Capuchin Monkeys (Cebus Apella)

Humans are exceptional in their willingness to and frequency with which they help one another. However, nonhuman primates also exhibit prosocial behavior. Recently, a number of laboratory studies examining prosociality among primates have yielded conflicting results. These contradictory findings may be due to a reliance on human interaction, tokens, or interactions in the direct context of food, a highly valued resource for animals. The current study examined prosocial behavior among capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) in a tool task designed to address these issues by examining whether capuchins would transfer a necessary tool to a partner in different payoff conditions. Some capuchins’ behavior indicated that they understood the task, passing the tool when a partner and food were present. Notably, tool transfer in both tasks was overwhelmingly active rather than passive, which is unusual in the context of food; indicating active prosocial behavior is present amongst primates other than cooperative breeders.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:GEORGIA/oai:digitalarchive.gsu.edu:psych_theses-1085
Date14 July 2011
CreatorsParrish, Audrey E
PublisherDigital Archive @ GSU
Source SetsGeorgia State University
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourcePsychology Theses

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