Dindo Marietta, Thierry Bernard, de Waal Frans B M, Whiten Andrew
School of Psychology, University of St Andrews.
J Comp Psychol. 2010 Feb;124(1):29-37. doi: 10.1037/a0018005.
In the last two decades, it became largely accepted that monkeys show little, if any, copying fidelity. However, some recent studies have begun to challenge this notion. To explore reasons for such contrary findings, we designed a foraging apparatus so that in each of two experiments with capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella), a model would demonstrate one of two alternative methods to obtain food. The apparatus had a V-shaped track on which a panel could be slid up left or right from the center to reveal food. In Experiment 1, food was located in a cup directly behind the center panel. In Experiment 2, sliding the panel left or right revealed food either in left or right ends of the V-track. Since this sliding movement led directly to one food location exclusive of the other, we predicted capuchins would show greater copying fidelity in this second Experiment. Instead, subjects were significantly more faithful to the model's method in Experiment 1, which provided strong evidence of capuchins copying what they had observed. We suggest that the contrasting results of Experiment 1 may have occurred because capuchins prioritize exploratory behavior when alternative foraging locations are accessible.
在过去二十年里，人们普遍认为猴子几乎没有（即便有也极少）模仿精准度。然而，最近一些研究开始质疑这一观点。为探究产生这些相反结果的原因，我们设计了一种觅食装置，以便在对卷尾猴（僧帽猴属）进行的两个实验中，一只示范猴能展示获取食物的两种可选方法之一。该装置有一个V形轨道，一块面板可以从轨道中心向左或向右滑动，从而露出食物。在实验1中，食物位于中心面板正后方的一个杯子里。在实验2中，向左或向右滑动面板会在V形轨道的左端或右端露出食物。由于这种滑动动作直接导向一个食物位置而排除了另一个，我们预测卷尾猴在第二个实验中会表现出更高的模仿精准度。然而，实验结果却相反，实验1中的受试猴子对示范猴的方法表现出了更高的忠诚度，这为卷尾猴模仿它们所观察到的行为提供了有力证据。我们认为，实验1出现对比结果的原因可能是，当有其他觅食地点可供选择时，卷尾猴会优先进行探索行为。
