Copycat Chimps

Scientists have long known that a group of chimpanzees may do everyday tasks in a special way that no other group does. Although scientists suspected that chimpanzees learned such special behaviors by imitating other members of their group, they wanted proof.

So researchers built a puzzle box with a block that held a treat and taught Georgia, a leader from one group of chimpanzees, how to poke the block to get the treat. They taught Ericka, a leader from a different group, how to lift the block to get the treat. Then they returned Georgia and Ericka to their respective groups with puzzle boxes.

The chimps in each group watched their leader carefully. Soon the members of Georgia's group were poking to get the treat, while those in Ericka's group were lifting. Chimps from a third group did not have any training and could not get any treats out of the box.

The experiment shows that chimpanzees really can learn special behaviors by copying their group mates. But what surprised the scientists is that when a few chimpanzees in Ericka's group discovered the poking method on their own, they stuck to lifting, even though it's harder for chimps to lift than poke. It seems that chimpanzees, like people, prefer to do things the same way everyone else in their group does.

Copyright Carus Publishing Company Jan 2006
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