Spontaneous Altruism by Chimpanzees and Young Children

Warneken, Felix; Hare, Brian; Melis, Alicia P.; Hanuš, Daniel; Tomasello, Michael

doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050184

Cited by 446 publications

(473 citation statements)

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“…Humans, marmosets, and capuchins demonstrate other-regarding preferences, (Burkart et al 2007;de Waal et al 2008;Fehr et al 2008;Lakshminarayanan and Santos 2008), but tamarins do not. To further complicate the situation, chimpanzees show preferences in some situations (Warneken et al 2007;Warneken and Tomasello 2006) What underlies this variation? One obvious factor that could play an important role is food (Yamamoto and Tanaka 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Presenting non-food rewards may, however, be useful in testing other-regarding preferences. The cases in which chimpanzees seem to show other-regarding preferences, for instance, are those in which they offer targeted helping rather than food (Warneken et al 2007;Warneken and Tomasello 2006). Thus, testing non-food rewards may offer more instances of other-regarding preferences in primates.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Donor payoffs and other-regarding preferences in cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus)

Stevens

2010

Anim Cogn

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Helping others at no cost to oneself is a simple way to demonstrate other-regarding preferences. Yet, primates exhibit mixed results for other-regarding preferences: chimpanzees and tamarins do not show these effects, whereas capuchin monkeys and marmosets preferentially give food to others. One factor of relevance to this no-cost food donation is the payoff to the donor. Though donors always receive the same payoffs regardless of their choice, previous work varies in whether they receive either a food reward or no food reward. Here, I tested cotton-top tamarins in a preferential giving task. Subjects could choose from two tools, one of which delivered food to a partner in an adjacent cage and the other of which delivered food to an empty cage. Thus, subjects could preferentially give or withhold food from a partner. I varied whether subjects received food payoffs, whether a partner was present or absent, and whether the partner was a non-cagemate or the subject's mate. Results showed that the subjects' overall motivation to pull either tool declined when they did not receive any food. Additionally, they did not preferentially donate or withhold food, regardless of their own payoff or their relationship with the partner. Thus, cotton-top tamarins do not take advantage of costfree food giving, either when they might gain in the future (mates) or when they have no opportunity for future interactions (non-cagemates).

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Donor payoffs and other-regarding preferences in cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus)

Stevens

2010

Anim Cogn

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“…In a second set of experiments, conducted with a different group of chimpanzees, help was also extended to unfamiliar humans who were unable to reach an object. In additional experiments, help was offered to familiar conspecifics who were trying to open a door and enter an adjacent enclosure (Warneken et al 2007). …”

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confidence: 99%

Chimpanzees do not take advantage of very low cost opportunities to deliver food to unrelated group members

et al. 2008

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We conducted experiments on two populations of chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes, to determine whether they would take advantage of opportunities to provide food rewards to familiar group members at little cost to themselves. In both of the experiments described here, chimpanzees were able to deliver identical rewards to themselves and to other members of their social groups. We compared the chimpanzees' behaviour when they were paired with another chimpanzee and when they were alone. If chimpanzees are motivated to provide benefits to others, they are expected to consistently deliver rewards to others and to distinguish between the partner-present and partnerabsent conditions. Results from both experiments indicate that our subjects were largely indifferent to the benefits they could provide to others. They were less likely to provide rewards to potential recipients as the experiment progressed, and all but one of the 18 subjects were as likely to deliver rewards to an empty enclosure as to an enclosure housing another chimpanzee. These results, in conjunction with similar results obtained in previous experiments, suggest that chimpanzees are not motivated by prosocial sentiments to provide food rewards to other group members. HHS Public Access Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptAuthor Manuscript Author ManuscriptHumans participate in a range of activities that benefit others. These behaviours range from simple acts of courtesy (holding the door for shoppers laden with packages) to modest forms of charity (sending money to victims of hurricane Katrina) and extraordinary feats of heroism (firefighters taking great risks to rescue victims of the 9/11 bombings). These activities are all prosocial because they benefit others, and some are altruistic because donors incur costs and receive no direct benefit themselves when they provide benefits to others. In many cases, the actors are unknown to the beneficiaries, thus eliminating the possibility of future reciprocity. In this paper, we consider whether chimpanzees take advantage of very low cost opportunities to behave prosocially towards conspecifics.In an effort to gain insight about the origin and evolution of other-regarding preferences in humans, we conducted a series of experiments on chimpanzees. We focus on chimpanzees for a number of reasons. First, chimpanzees are our closest living relatives (Glazko & Nei 2003). The absence of other-regarding preferences in chimpanzees would suggest that these preferences (and possibly reputational concerns) are derived properties of humans that evolved after Homo and Pan diverged. Conversely, the presence of other-regarding preferences in chimpanzees would indicate that the foundation for prosocial behaviour existed before the human and ape lineages diverged and was elaborated within the human lineage.Second, chimpanzees may share some of the cognitive capacities and moral sentiments that underlie prosocial behaviour in humans. Chimpanzees sometimes console victims of aggression (de Waal & van Roosmalen 1979), which...

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“…Recent findings also confirm that chimpanzees 88 possess simple elements of a theory of mind (Call 2007;Call and Tomasello 2008). Yamamoto et al 2009) and occasionally also do so even spontaneously 100 (Warneken et al 2007). However, studies that tested chimpanzees' tendencies to behave 101 prosocially in food-delivering experiments have so far yielded only negative results (Jensen et In sum, most of the existing studies exploring possible building blocks of human 104 moral behaviour in chimpanzees have capitalized on their tendencies and capacities to behave 105 prosocially in different contexts.…”

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confidence: 60%

Evolutionary precursors of social norms in chimpanzees: a new approach

2010

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Moral behaviour, based on social norms, is commonly regarded as a hallmark of humans. Hitherto, humans are perceived to be the only species possessing social norms and to engage in moral behaviour. There is anecdotal evidence suggesting their presence in chimpanzees, but systematic studies are lacking. Here, we examine the evolution of human social norms and their underlying psychological mechanisms. For this, we distinguish between conventions, cultural social norms and universal social norms. We aim at exploring whether chimpanzees possess evolutionary precursors of universal social norms seen in humans. Chimpanzees exhibit important preconditions for their presence and enforcement: tolerant societies, well-developed social-cognitive skills and empathetic competence. Here, we develop a theoretical framework for recognizing different functional levels of social norms and distinguish them from mere statistical behavioural regularities. Quasi social norms are found where animals behave functionally moral without having moral emotions. In proto social norms, moral emotions might be present but cannot be collectivized due to the absence of a uniquely human psychological trait, i.e. shared intentionality. Human social norms, whether they are universal or cultural, involve moral emotions and are collectivized. We will discuss behaviours in chimpanzees that represent potential evolutionary precursors of human universal social norms, with special focus on social interactions involving infants. We argue that chimpanzee infants occupy a special status within their communities and propose that tolerance towards them might represent a proto social norm. Finally, we discuss possible ways to test this theoretical framework. 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 2 Abstract 52 53 54 Moral behaviour, based on social norms, is commonly regarded as a hallmark of 55 humans. Hitherto, humans are perceived to be the only species possessing social norms and to 56 engage in moral behaviour. There is anecdotal evidence suggesting their presence in 57 chimpanzees, but systematic studies are lacking. Here, we examine the evolution of human 58 social norms and their underlying psychological mechanisms. For this, we distinguish 59 between conventions, cultural social norms and universal social norms. We aim at exploring 60 whether chimpanzees possess evolutionary precursors of universal social norms seen in 61 humans. Chimpanzees exhibit important preconditions for their presence and enforcement: 62 tolerant societies, well-developed social-cognitive skills and empathetic competence. Here, 63we develop a theoretical framework for recognizing different functional levels of social norms 64 and distinguish them from mere statistical behavioural regularities. Quasi social norms are 65 found where animals behave functionally moral without having moral emotions. In proto 66 social norms, moral emotions might be present but cannot be collectivized due to the absence 6...

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Spontaneous Altruism by Chimpanzees and Young Children

Cited by 446 publications

References 25 publications

Donor payoffs and other-regarding preferences in cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus)

Donor payoffs and other-regarding preferences in cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus)

Chimpanzees do not take advantage of very low cost opportunities to deliver food to unrelated group members

Evolutionary precursors of social norms in chimpanzees: a new approach

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