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Chimpanzees monopolize and children take turns in a limited resource problem.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Knofe, H; Engelmann, J; Tomasello, M; Herrmann, E
Published in: Scientific reports
May 2019

Competition over scarce resources is common across the animal kingdom. Here we investigate the strategies of chimpanzees and children in a limited resource problem. Both species were presented with a tug-of-war apparatus in which each individual in a dyad received a tool to access a reward, but tools could not be used simultaneously. We assessed the equality of tool use as well as the frequency of turn taking. Both species managed to overcome this conflict of interest but used different strategies to do so. While there was substantial variation in chimpanzee behaviour, monopolization was the common course of action: tool use was asymmetric with individual chimpanzees monopolizing the resource. In children, turn-taking emerged as the dominant strategy: tool use was symmetric and children alternated access to the tool at a high rate. These results suggest that while both species possess strategies for solving limited resource problems, humans might have evolved species unique motivations and socio-cognitive skills for dealing with such conflicts of interest.

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Published In

Scientific reports

DOI

EISSN

2045-2322

ISSN

2045-2322

Publication Date

May 2019

Volume

9

Issue

1

Start / End Page

7597

Related Subject Headings

  • Social Behavior
  • Reward
  • Problem Solving
  • Pan troglodytes
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Child, Preschool
  • Behavior, Animal
  • Animals
 

Citation

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Knofe, H., Engelmann, J., Tomasello, M., & Herrmann, E. (2019). Chimpanzees monopolize and children take turns in a limited resource problem. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 7597. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44096-4
Knofe, Hagen, Jan Engelmann, Michael Tomasello, and Esther Herrmann. “Chimpanzees monopolize and children take turns in a limited resource problem.Scientific Reports 9, no. 1 (May 2019): 7597. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44096-4.
Knofe H, Engelmann J, Tomasello M, Herrmann E. Chimpanzees monopolize and children take turns in a limited resource problem. Scientific reports. 2019 May;9(1):7597.
Knofe, Hagen, et al. “Chimpanzees monopolize and children take turns in a limited resource problem.Scientific Reports, vol. 9, no. 1, May 2019, p. 7597. Epmc, doi:10.1038/s41598-019-44096-4.
Knofe H, Engelmann J, Tomasello M, Herrmann E. Chimpanzees monopolize and children take turns in a limited resource problem. Scientific reports. 2019 May;9(1):7597.

Published In

Scientific reports

DOI

EISSN

2045-2322

ISSN

2045-2322

Publication Date

May 2019

Volume

9

Issue

1

Start / End Page

7597

Related Subject Headings

  • Social Behavior
  • Reward
  • Problem Solving
  • Pan troglodytes
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Child, Preschool
  • Behavior, Animal
  • Animals