| Title |
Spontaneous cross-species imitation in interactions between chimpanzees and zoo visitors
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Primates, August 2017
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s10329-017-0624-9 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Tomas Persson, Gabriela-Alina Sauciuc, Elainie Alenkær Madsen |
| Abstract |
Imitation is a cornerstone of human development, serving both a cognitive function (e.g. in the acquisition and transmission of skills and knowledge) and a social-communicative function, whereby the imitation of familiar actions serves to maintain social interaction and promote prosociality. In nonhuman primates, this latter function is poorly understood, or even claimed to be absent. In this observational study, we documented interactions between chimpanzees and zoo visitors and found that the two species imitated each other at a similar rate, corresponding to almost 10% of all produced actions. Imitation appeared to accomplish a social-communicative function, as cross-species interactions that contained imitative actions lasted significantly longer than interactions without imitation. In both species, physical proximity promoted cross-species imitation. Overall, imitative precision was higher among visitors than among chimpanzees, but this difference vanished in proximity contexts, i.e. in the indoor environment. Four of five chimpanzees produced imitations; three of them exhibited comparable imitation rates, despite large individual differences in level of cross-species interactivity. We also found that chimpanzees evidenced imitation recognition, yet only when visitors imitated their actions (as opposed to postures). Imitation recognition was expressed by returned imitation in 36% of the cases, and all four imitating chimpanzees engaged in so-called imitative games. Previously regarded as unique to early human socialization, such games serve to maintain social engagement. The results presented here indicate that nonhuman apes exhibit spontaneous imitation that can accomplish a communicative function. The study raises a number of novel questions for imitation research and highlights the imitation of familiar behaviours as a relevant-yet thus far understudied-research topic. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 311 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Japan | 41 | 13% |
| France | 24 | 8% |
| United States | 16 | 5% |
| United Kingdom | 12 | 4% |
| Spain | 5 | 2% |
| Netherlands | 3 | <1% |
| Sweden | 3 | <1% |
| Canada | 2 | <1% |
| Germany | 2 | <1% |
| Other | 21 | 7% |
| Unknown | 182 | 59% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 275 | 88% |
| Scientists | 29 | 9% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 4 | 1% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 3 | <1% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 113 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 113 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Bachelor | 22 | 19% |
| Student > Master | 17 | 15% |
| Researcher | 10 | 9% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 9 | 8% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 6 | 5% |
| Other | 20 | 18% |
| Unknown | 29 | 26% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 18 | 16% |
| Psychology | 16 | 14% |
| Environmental Science | 12 | 11% |
| Social Sciences | 9 | 8% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 5 | 4% |
| Other | 19 | 17% |
| Unknown | 34 | 30% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 590. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 25 December 2023.
All research outputs
#39,821
of 25,711,998 outputs
Outputs from Primates
#6
of 1,078 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#764
of 310,107 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Primates
#1
of 12 outputs
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