An assessment of early differential rearing conditions on later behavioral development in captive chimpanzees

Maki, Susan; Fritz, Jo; England, Nancy

doi:10.1016/0163-6383(93)80042-7

Cited by 21 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Corroborating previous reports [e.g. (Kalcher-Sommersguter et al 2011;Maki et al 1993;Russon 1990)], these data may imply that chimpanzees learn adequate social skills from their mothers throughout infancy and juvenility; skills that enhance the quality of interactions with conspecifics in later life, which, in a highly socially dependent species like chimpanzees may be of crucial importance for successful group-living or even immediate survival (Bekoff and Pierce 2009;Taborsky and Oliveira 2012).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

“…Here, we hypothesized that the mother-reared chimpanzees would engage in social play more frequently and for longer continuous durations than their orphaned counterparts for the reason that we expected the mother-reared chimpanzees to be more socially attuned, i.e., more proficient at soliciting and sustaining social play, owing to their typical social development [e.g. (Maki et al 1993;Russell et al 2011)]. Second, we investigated the adequacy of the chimpanzees' social skills by analysing the social play outcomes in terms of aggression.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Early social deprivation negatively affects social skill acquisition in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Leeuwen

Mulenga²,

Chidester³

2013

Anim Cogn

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In a highly social species like chimpanzees, the process by which individuals become attuned to their social environment may be of vital importance to their chances of survival. Typically, this socialization process, defined by all acquisition experiences and fine-tuning efforts of social interaction patterns during ontogeny, occurs in large part through parental investment. In this study, we investigated whether maternal presence enhances the socialization process in chimpanzees by comparing the social interactions of orphaned and mother-reared individuals at the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage Trust in Zambia. As response variables, we selected social interactions during which an elaborate level of fine-tuning is assumed to be necessary for sustaining the interaction and preventing escalation: social play. Comparing orphaned (n = 8) to sex- and age-matched mother-reared juvenile chimpanzees (n = 9), we hypothesized that the orphaned juveniles would play less frequently than the mother-reared and would be less equipped for fine-tuning social play (which we assayed by rates of aggression) because of the lack of a safe and facilitating social environment provided by the mother. First, contrary to our hypothesis, results showed that the orphaned juveniles engaged in social play more frequently than the mother-reared juveniles, although for significantly shorter amounts of time. Second, in support of our hypothesis, results showed that social play of the orphaned juveniles more often resulted in aggression than social play of the mother-reared juveniles. In conjunction, these results may indicate that, just like in humans, chimpanzee mothers provide their offspring with adequate social skills that might be of pivotal importance for future challenges like successful group-living and securing competitive fitness advantages.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early social deprivation negatively affects social skill acquisition in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Leeuwen

Mulenga²,

Chidester³

2013

Anim Cogn

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“…psychopathology. As far as is known to date, the main sources of psychopathology in captive apes, where the host of data stems from chimpanzees, are early separation of infants from their mothers, sensory-motor deprivation or social isolation over prolonged periods of time (Maki et al, 1993;Fritz et al, 1992a-c), although these risk factors are probably non-specific. Behavioral abnormalities include stereotypic movements, withdrawal, extreme anxiety or unprovoked aggression.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…How crucial these early experiences of socialization are becomes evident when infants are separated from their mothers. Early rearing circumstances and opportunity for attachment have great impact on the development of stereotypic movements (Maki et al, 1993). Early maternal separation leads to a variety of grave psychological disturbances, including stereotypies, autoaggression, and incompetent social and reproductive behavior (Davenport and Menzel, 1963;Rogers and Davenport, 1969;Fritz et al, 1992a-c).…”

Section: Etiological Aspectsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Psychopathology in great apes: Concepts, treatment options and possible homologies to human psychiatric disorders

Brüne¹,

Brüne-Cohrs²,

McGrew

et al. 2006

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

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“…For instance, a biological mother may be unable to care for her offspring due to illness or disinterest leading to neglect; in these circumstances, human intervention may be warranted. Studies investigating the impact of these atypical rearing situations on primates -notably with rhesus macaques and chimpanzees -have used categorical classifications, such as mother-reared and human-reared, and reported a range of substantive impacts on developmental trajectories (Anderson & Mason, 1974;Maki, Fritz & England, 1993;Suomi, 2011). In the most extreme cases of social deprivation, there are a range of impacts including behaviors such as self-clutching, excessive rocking, and self-mutilation (Harlow, Dodsworth & Harlow, 1965).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peer Review #3 of "The impact of atypical early histories on pet or performer chimpanzees (v0.2)"

2014

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It is widely accepted that an animal's early history, including but not limited to its rearing history, can have a profound impact on later behavior. In the case of captive animals, many studies have used categorical measures such as mother reared or human reared that do not account for both the influence of human and conspecific interaction. In order to account for the influence of both human and conspecific early exposure to later behavior, we collected 1385 hours of data on 61 chimpanzees, of which 36 were former pets or performers, currently housed at accredited zoos or sanctuaries. We developed a unique metric, the Chimpanzee-Human Interaction (CHI) Index that represented a continuous measure of the proportion of human and chimpanzee exposure subjects experienced and here focused on their exposure during the first four years of life. We found that chimpanzees who experienced less exposure to other chimpanzees as infants showed a lower frequency of grooming and sexual behaviors later in life which can influence social dynamics within groups. We also found chimpanzees who experienced more exposure to other chimpanzees as infants showed a higher frequency of coprophagy, suggesting coprophagy could be a socially-learned behavior. These results help characterize some of the long-term effects borne by chimpanzees maintained as pets and performers and may help inform managers seeking to integrate these types of chimpanzees into larger social groups, as in zoos and sanctuaries. In addition, these results highlight the necessity of taking into account the time-weighted influence of human and conspecific interactions when assessing the impact that humans can have on animals living in captivity.

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An assessment of early differential rearing conditions on later behavioral development in captive chimpanzees

Cited by 21 publications

References 10 publications

Early social deprivation negatively affects social skill acquisition in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Early social deprivation negatively affects social skill acquisition in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Psychopathology in great apes: Concepts, treatment options and possible homologies to human psychiatric disorders

Peer Review #3 of "The impact of atypical early histories on pet or performer chimpanzees (v0.2)"

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