![]() ![]() 2015a) or simply copied one or more individuals at random, which could lead to the same effect of acting like a majority in the group (Acerbi et al. ![]() For example, it has been suggested that so-called conformist individuals could have copied the most frequently observed behaviour rather than the behaviour of a majority of individuals (van Leeuwen et al. 2013 Van Leeuwen and Haun 2013, 2014 Van Leeuwen et al. 2005), each of these examples has been critiqued for not systematically ruling out alternative explanations (Acerbi et al. 2015b), vervet monkeys (van de Waal et al. While experimental evidence has been offered for conformist behaviour in nine-spined stickleback fish (Pike and Laland 2010), great tits (Aplin et al. ![]() However, whether non-human species exhibit conformist behaviour is a topic of recent debate (Claidière and Whiten 2012). Conformity is a well-established bias in humans, occurring across varied cultures and age groups (Bond and Smith 1996). This represents an important contrast with ‘conformist transmission’, which refers to the tendency for naïve individuals to disproportionately copy the behaviour of a majority (Boyd and Richerson 1988 Van Leeuwen and Haun 2013). One such proposed bias is conformity, defined as foregoing a pre-existing behaviour in favour of adopting one demonstrated by a majority of conspecifics (Haun and Tomasello 2011 Whiten and Van Schaik 2007). ![]() We argue that these results demonstrate an important influence of social context upon prioritisation of social information over pre-existing methods, which can result in group homogeneity of behaviour.Ĭulture emerges and is maintained by a suite of social learning mechanisms and biases that govern how social information is transmitted and when individuals choose to prioritise social information over pre-existing methods. In a final ‘Asocial’ condition, individuals ( N = 10) did not receive social information and did not deviate from their first-learned method. The number of observations that individuals in the minority and Dyad individuals made of their untrained method was not found to influence whether or not they themselves switched to use it. Only one of these individuals ever switched method. In a further ‘Dyad’ condition, six pairs of chimpanzees were trained on alternative methods and then given access to the task together. Those that switched did so after observing only a small subset of their group, thereby not matching conventional definitions of conformity. Over 5 h of open access to the apparatus in a group context, it was found that 4/5 ‘minority’ individuals explored the majority method and three of these used this new method in the majority of trials. In each of five groups of chimpanzees ( N = 37), one individual was trained on one method of opening a two-action puzzle box to obtain food, while the remaining individuals learned the alternative method. Here, we investigated whether chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes) would relinquish a pre-existing behaviour to adopt an alternative demonstrated by an overwhelming majority of group mates in other words, whether chimpanzees behave in a conformist manner. How animal communities arrive at homogeneous behavioural preferences is a central question for studies of cultural evolution. ![]()
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