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

SUBMITTER: Kendal R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4820294 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature