Self-interest precludes prosocial juice provisioning in a free choice group experiment in bonobos

Verspeek, Jonas; Leeuwen, Edwin J. C. van; Laméris, Daan W.; Stevens, Jeroen M. G.

doi:10.1007/s10329-022-01008-x

Cited by 1 publication

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“…Therefore, the choices were meaningful even if the pattern of responding does not fit into our a priori predictions of how gorillas might respond in a prosocial choice task. These data add to the growing body of work suggesting that nonhuman animals can attend to choices that are consistent with self‐interest in a symbolic prosocial choice test (Leete & Vonk, 2022; Verspeek, Van Leeuwen, Laméris, Staes, et al, 2022; Verspeek, Van Leeuwen, Laméris, Stevens, 2022). This was the first test of prosocial preferences in a bachelor group of half‐sibling gorillas and one of the first studies to allow individuals to choose whom to be prosocial toward (Emigh et al, 2020; Yamamoto & Tanaka, 2010).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 54%

Prosocial or photo preferences? Gorillas' prosocial choices using a touchscreen

Vonk

2024

American J Primatol

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Three male Western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) were given the opportunity to select their own or conspecific photos on a touchscreen to indicate whether they wished the experimenter to deliver a food reward only to them or to them and the selected conspecific(s). This is only the second symbolic test of prosocial preferences with apes using a touchscreen, and the first with gorillas. The use of self and other photographs as symbols of prosocial choices was intuitive while controlling for the distraction of visible food rewards, and allowing for tests of transfer to further validate apparent prosocial intentions. Gorillas rapidly learned to avoid selecting a photograph of an empty enclosure that resulted in no rewards for any of the gorillas and transferred this learning to a novel photograph. The gorillas did not behave in a consistently self‐interested or prosocial manner but they clearly rejected the opportunity to choose spitefully. Their preferences for certain photographs did not necessarily reflect a preference to be prosocial toward that particular individual because these preferences did not transfer to novel photographs of the same individuals. The results call into question whether gorillas recognize themselves and conspecifics in photographs but cannot conclusively speak to whether gorillas have prosocial preferences. They do stress the importance of carefully probing alternative explanations when inferring intentions from observable behaviors.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 54%

Prosocial or photo preferences? Gorillas' prosocial choices using a touchscreen

Vonk

2024

American J Primatol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Self-interest precludes prosocial juice provisioning in a free choice group experiment in bonobos

Cited by 1 publication

References 51 publications

Prosocial or photo preferences? Gorillas' prosocial choices using a touchscreen

Prosocial or photo preferences? Gorillas' prosocial choices using a touchscreen

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