Renewal: Social Modification of Primate Behavior

Emory University, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

Dr. Frans B. M. de Waal Proposal # IOS-0718010 Social Modification of Primate Behavior For social animals to react appropriately to each other they need to know about each others'' gender, social status, and the state they are in (such as whether they are hungry, distressed, fearful, or aggressive). This project seeks to establish what brown capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) know about their group mates. It asks them to indicate, on the basis of portraits projected on a computer screen, which individual monkey belongs to their group. It asks them to rate calls as either aversive or attractive, dependent on the identity of the caller (for example, does a female find the distress calls of her own offspring more aversive than such calls by unrelated juveniles?). And it will ask monkeys to share food with others based on what they know about their hunger state to see if they take the needs of others into account. Available are 30 capuchin monkeys, kept in indoor/outdoor enclosures, trained for temporary separation for experiments. The proposed study will illuminate basic social cognition that is often taken for granted. The laboratory at the Yerkes Primate Center serves the education of a great many undergraduate and graduate students, who obtain valuable training in combination with classes they take. Through his popular books and lectures, the Principal Investigator is at the forefront in communicating findings in animal behavior to a wider public, both academic and nonacademic.