Skip to main content

Spontaneous triadic engagement in bonobos (Pan paniscus) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).

Publication ,  Journal Article
MacLean, E; Hare, B
Published in: Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983)
August 2013

Humans are believed to have evolved a unique motivation to participate in joint activities that first develops during infancy and supports the development of shared intentionality. We conducted five experiments with bonobos (Pan paniscus) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) (Total n = 119) to assess their motivation to spontaneously participate in joint activities with a conspecific or a human. We found that even the youngest subjects preferred to interact together with a human and a toy rather than engaging in an identical game alone. In addition, we found that subjects could spontaneously interact with a human in a turn-taking game involving passing a ball back and forth and used behaviors to elicit additional interaction when the game was disrupted. However, when paired with a conspecific, subjects preferred to interact with an object individually rather than together. Our results indicate that nonhuman apes are motivated to engage in triadic activities if they occur spontaneously with humans and require a minimum amount of coordination. These findings leave open the question of whether these activities are coordinated through shared intentions.

Duke Scholars

Altmetric Attention Stats
Dimensions Citation Stats

Published In

Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983)

DOI

EISSN

1939-2087

ISSN

0735-7036

Publication Date

August 2013

Volume

127

Issue

3

Start / End Page

245 / 255

Related Subject Headings

  • Species Specificity
  • Social Behavior
  • Sex Factors
  • Pan troglodytes
  • Pan paniscus
  • Motivation
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Games, Experimental
  • Female
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
MacLean, E., & Hare, B. (2013). Spontaneous triadic engagement in bonobos (Pan paniscus) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Journal of Comparative Psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983), 127(3), 245–255. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030935
MacLean, Evan, and Brian Hare. “Spontaneous triadic engagement in bonobos (Pan paniscus) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).Journal of Comparative Psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) 127, no. 3 (August 2013): 245–55. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030935.
MacLean E, Hare B. Spontaneous triadic engagement in bonobos (Pan paniscus) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, DC : 1983). 2013 Aug;127(3):245–55.
MacLean, Evan, and Brian Hare. “Spontaneous triadic engagement in bonobos (Pan paniscus) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).Journal of Comparative Psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983), vol. 127, no. 3, Aug. 2013, pp. 245–55. Epmc, doi:10.1037/a0030935.
MacLean E, Hare B. Spontaneous triadic engagement in bonobos (Pan paniscus) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, DC : 1983). 2013 Aug;127(3):245–255.

Published In

Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983)

DOI

EISSN

1939-2087

ISSN

0735-7036

Publication Date

August 2013

Volume

127

Issue

3

Start / End Page

245 / 255

Related Subject Headings

  • Species Specificity
  • Social Behavior
  • Sex Factors
  • Pan troglodytes
  • Pan paniscus
  • Motivation
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Games, Experimental
  • Female