1996/01/01 by Andrew Whiten, Deborah M. Custance, Juan Carlos Gómez +2 · 7 citations
Psychology · Neuroscience · #Child and Animal Learning Development #Primate Behavior and Ecology #Memory and Neural Mechanisms
paper · doi:10.1037/0735-7036.110.1.3
openalex publication_date 1996/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/24
Observational learning in chimpanzees and young children was investigated using an artificial fruit designed as an analog of natural foraging problems faced by primates. Each of 3 principal components could be removed in 2 alternative ways, demonstration of only one of which was watched by each subject. This permitted subsequent imitation by subjects to be distinguished from stimulus enhancement. Children aged 2-4 years evidenced imitation for 2 components, but also achieved demonstrated outcomes through their own techniques. Chimpanzees relied even more on their own techniques, but they did imitate elements of 1 component of the task. To our knowledge, this is the first experimental evidence of chimpanzee imitation in a functional task designed to simulate foraging behavior hypothesized to be transmitted culturally in the wild.