Chimpanzees copy dominant and knowledgeable individuals : implications for cultural diversity
Abstract
Evolutionary theory predicts that natural selection will fashion cognitive biases to guide when, and from whom, individuals acquire social information, but the precise nature of these biases, especially in ecologically valid group contexts, remains unknown. We exposed four captive groups of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) to a novel extractive foraging device and, by fitting statistical models, isolated four simultaneously operating transmission biases. These include biases to copy (i) higher-ranking and (ii) expert individuals, and to copy others when (iii) uncertain or (iv) of low rank. High-ranking individuals were relatively un-strategic in their use of acquired knowledge, which, combined with the bias for others to observe them, may explain reports that high innovation rates (in juveniles and subordinates) do not generate a correspondingly high frequency of traditions in chimpanzees. Given the typically low rank of immigrants in chimpanzees, a 'copying dominants' bias may contribute to the observed maintenance of distinct cultural repertoires in neighboring communities despite sharing similar ecology and knowledgeable migrants. Thus, a copying dominants strategy may, as often proposed for conformist transmission, and perhaps in concert with it, restrict the accumulation of traditions within chimpanzee communities whilst maintaining cultural diversity.
Citation
Kendal , R , Hopper , L M , Whiten , A , Brosnan , S F , Lambeth , S P , Schapiro , S J & Hoppitt , W 2015 , ' Chimpanzees copy dominant and knowledgeable individuals : implications for cultural diversity ' , Evolution and Human Behavior , vol. 36 , no. 1 , pp. 65-72 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2014.09.002
Publication
Evolution and Human Behavior
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1090-5138Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. This work is made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2014.09.002
Description
RLK was funded by a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship; LMH by a BBSRC studentship (BBS/S/K/2004/11255 supervised by AW) and, at the time of writing, is funded by the Guthman Fund; WH by a BBSRC grant (BB/I007997/1); SFB by a NSF CAREER award (SES 0847351) and (SES 0729244). The chimpanzee colony is supported by NIH U42 (RR-15090).Collections
Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.