In a study on capuchin monkeys, it was discovered that monkeys would more often accept treats from helpful people vs. unhelpful people. This test was run by having the monkey watch as someone struggled to open a jar, then requested help from someone else. This person would either help or refuse to give aid. Both people would then offer the monkey a treat, with the monkey only being allowed to choose one. It was discovered that the monkey preferred the helpful people, and when an unhelpful person offered it a treat it was more likely to choose the treat of the "victim". Similar results have been found in studies of chimpanzees and 3-month-old children. Capuchins were chosen because of their highly social and cooperative instincts, and scientists speculate that this behavior has ancient evolutionary roots.
NOS Themes:
-Role of Chance (could it be coincidence who the monkeys chose?)
-Science is subject to debate and tentative (some scientists dispute these findings)
-Science is based on evidence (many trials were done to get this result)
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=monkeys-stay-away-from-mean-people
Sam Schnirring, Hour 1
This seems like a fascinating study of human behavior. Even more, I believe it also reveals the intricacies of the brain. It seems wondrous that capuchins can not only observe the behaviors of other species, but also understand the basic concept of what was happening and make assumptions of the personalities of the beings based on those observed traits. If these results are indeed correct, then the capuchins also had to use either instincts or logic in order to decide which treat to trust.
ReplyDeleteIn case there is anyone who wants to read about how monkey behavior relates to human behavior, I found some articles:
- What Monkeys can teach us about Human Behavior
- 8 Humanlike Behaviors of Primates
- Human Behavior found in Animals
I agree with Beth that these monkeys must be extremely intelligent to pick up on the situation. I think that it is really interesting that this has been tested on other species and had the same results. Humans think that we are so different than other animals. What we don't realize is that we aren't so different! I don't know if we should trust this though, depending on how many times this experiment was repeated. A small sample size could change the data significantly. I also wonder if they have tested any more species of animal, because I would look in to that!
ReplyDeleteIn the original article they pointed out that when both people had jars the response was weaker, which could mean that the monkeys liked the people who controlled interesting objects. If that is the case, that I would expect that children may behave the same way. They may also just be reacting to the person who had the jar just before the treat was given.
ReplyDeleteIt would also be interesting to see if social animals reacted to this test different than non-social species.