Calculated reciprocity? A comparative test with six primate species

Abstract

Little evidence of calculated reciprocity has been found in non-human primates so far. In this study, we used a simple experimental set-up to test whether partners pulled a sliding table to altruistically provide food to each other in short-term interactions. We tested 46 dyads of chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, orangutans, brown capuchin monkeys and spider monkeys to examine whether a subject's tendency to provide food to a partner was directly affected by the partner's previous behaviour, by the species, by the condition (i.e., whether the partner could access the food provided by the subject) and by the social tolerance levels within each dyad. Chimpanzees and orangutans were the only species pulling significantly more when the partner could retrieve the food altruistically provided. However, no species reciprocated food exchanges, as subjects' probability to pull was not affected by the previous number of the partner's pulls, with the possible exception of one orangutan dyad. Although subjects clearly knew how the apparatus worked and easily obtained food for themselves, individuals did not usually take the opportunity to provide food to their partners, suggesting that calculated reciprocity is not a common behaviour and that food exchanges are usually not reciprocated in the short-term within dyads.

No Short‐Term Contingency Between Grooming and Food Tolerance in Barbary Macaques (Macaca sylvanus)

“…A recent study showed also no short‐term reciprocation of food exchanges in an experimental set‐up in chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas ( Gorilla gorilla ), orangutans ( Pongo abelii ), brown capuchin monkeys and spider monkeys ( Ateles geoffroyi ; Amici et al. ).…”

Happy to Help? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of performing acts of kindness on the well-being of the actor

“…1 Surprisingly, few if any examples of such 'reciprocal altruism' have been found in nonhuman species (Amici et al, 2014;Clutton-Brock, 2009). But in humans, reciprocal altruism is implemented by psychological mechanisms that: detect those in need of help, initiate cooperation, signal recognition of favours received, keep track of who has returned the favour and who has not, make amends for favours not returned, and accept repentant cheats back into the fold (Cosmides & Tooby, 2005;McCullough, Kurzban, & Tabak, 2013;Trivers, 1971).…”

Social manipulation in nonhuman primates: Cognitive and motivational determinants

“…So far, these studies produced little evidence for short-term reciprocity in nonhuman primates. Negative results have been obtained for great apes including chimpanzees (Amici et al, 2014a;Melis et al, 2008;Tanaka, 2009, 2010), bonobos, orangutans, and gorillas (Amici et al, 2014a;Pelé et al, 2009), as well as monkey species such as Tonkean macaques (Pelé et al, 2010), brown capuchin monkeys (Amici et al, 2014a;Pelé et al, 2010;Suchak and de Waal, 2012), and spider monkeys (Amici et al, 2014a). There are few exceptions: one study found some evidence for positive reciprocity in one out of 11 chimpanzee dyads (Brosnan et al, 2009).…”

“…In particular, species of particular relevance with regard to their phylogenetic position or their socioecology should be targeted while using standardized methods (as illustrated by recent studies, see Amici et al, 2014a;Burkart et al, 2014). To achieve this, simple setups are required that do not require extensive training or technical knowledge (see Albiach-Serrano 2015), especially to facilitate comparisons with non-primates (Marshall-Pescini et al, 2016).…”