Call playback artificially generates a temporary cultural style of high affiliation in marmosets

Abstract

Cultural variation can be conceptualised in two main ways: as culture-specific qualitative differences in behavioural form, and also as quantitative variation in performance of constellations of universal behaviours (cultural style). Despite observation of both types in wild non-human primates, diffusion of qualitative culture has been scrutinised extensively experimentally whilst within-species transmission of cultural style has remained entirely unexplored. Here we investigated whether a cultural style of high affiliation could be artificially generated in a nonhuman primate (Callithrix jacchus), by daily playback of conspecific affiliative calls simulating nearby amicable individuals. We found that vocalisation playback influenced monkeys to spend more time in affiliative behaviours outwith playback hours, relative to silent playback. The effect was specific to affiliation, with no impact on other categories of affect. This change did not persist into the final phase of observation after all playbacks were complete. Findings are consistent with a temporary shift in cultural style effected through vocalisation playback, supporting existence of this conception of culture in wild primates and indicating auditory social contagion as a potential diffusion mechanism. The method presented here will allow researchers to test hypotheses concerning cultural transmission of cultural style, and the underlying processes, across a range of contexts and species

An Observational Investigation of Behavioral Contagion in Common Marmosets (Callithrix jacchus): Indications for Contagious Scent-Marking

“…Therefore, further experimental research (cf. Watson et al, 2014 ) is needed to identify the mechanisms involved in the suggested social transmission.…”

“…Indeed, common marmosets have been shown to exhibit conformity with regard to socially learned foraging techniques (Gunhold et al, 2014 ) and with regard to certain personality traits (Koski and Burkart, 2015 ; Šlipogor et al, 2016 ), and these “group-personalities” have been suggested to enhance cooperation and group cohesion. Social contagion of agonism and affiliation has already been shown between groups of marmosets (Watson and Caldwell, 2010 ), and can even be experimentally induced (Watson et al, 2014 ). These studies suggest a neighbor effect in marmosets, but within-group contagion remains unstudied in this species.…”

Observing grooming promotes affiliation in Barbary macaques

“…Studies exploring how positive interactions of conspecifics may lead to contagion in bystanders have focussed on a range of behaviours associated with positive affect, and their associated acoustic cues. For example, in common marmosets, Callithrix jacchus, playbacks of chirp calls given during affiliation led to an increase in rates of positive social behaviours [13], and in zoo-housed groups of chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes, the frequency of grooming behaviour was found to be positively related to the number of grooming-related vocalizations from a neighbouring group [14]. In kea parrots, Nestor notabilis, individuals hearing the playback of calls given in the context of social play showed an increase in likelihood of playing with conspecifics [15] and in rats, playbacks of ultrasonic calls given during play led to an increase in prosocial approach behaviour [16].…”

Population-specific social dynamics in chimpanzees

“…The possibility that intraspecific variation in primate sociality may in part emerge through social learning has been explored experimentally in marmosets (3,33) and chimpanzees (28). In response to prerecorded affiliative calls of familiar conspecifics, marmosets were found to temporarily increase their overall levels of affiliative behavior (33). In another study, the same species was shown to exhibit group-level differences in individual boldness produced by social effects (3).…”