Article,
Social learning by orangutans (Pongo abelii and Pongo pygmaeus) in a simulated food-processing task.
Journal of Comparative Psychology, 117 (3): 272--282 (2003)
DOI: 10.1037/0735-7036.117.3.272
Abstract
Increasing evidence for behavioral differences between populations
of primates has created a resurgence of interest in examining mechanisms
of information transfer between individuals. The authors examined
the social transmission of information in 15 captive orangutans (Pongo
abelii and Pongo pygmaeus) using a simulated food-processing task.
Experimental subjects were shown 1 of 2 methods for removing a suite
of defenses on an ärtificial fruit." Control subjects were given
no prior exposure before interacting with the fruit. Observing a
model provided a functional advantage in the task, as significantly
more experimental than control subjects opened the fruit. Within
the experimental groups, the authors found a trend toward differences
in the actual behaviors used to remove 1 of the defenses. Results
support observations from the wild implying horizontal transfer of
information in orangutans and show that a number of social learning
processes are likely to be involved in the transfer of knowledge
in this species.
Tags
- (psychology)
- animal
- animals;
- behavior;
- communication;
- environment;
- feeding
- female;
- imitative
- male;
- performance;
- pongo
- problem
- psychomotor
- pygmaeus;
- social
- solving;
- species
- specificity;
- transfer
