Chimpanzees successfully play the Ultimatum Game
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| news.emory.edu |
Researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center,
Emory University, are the first to show chimpanzees possess a sense of fairness
that has previously been attributed as uniquely human. Working with colleagues
from Georgia State University, the researchers played the Ultimatum Game with
the chimpanzees to determine how sensitive the animals are to the reward
distribution between two individuals if both need to agree on the outcome. The
researchers say the findings, available in an early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) available this week, suggest
a long evolutionary history of the human aversion to inequity as well as a
shared preference for fair outcomes by the common ancestor of humans and apes.
According to first author Darby Proctor, PhD, "We used the
Ultimatum Game because it is the gold standard to determine the human sense of fairness.
In the game, one individual needs to propose a reward division to another
individual and then have that individual accept the proposition before both can
obtain the rewards. Humans typically offer generous portions, such as 50
percent of the reward, to their partners, and that's exactly what we recorded
in our study with chimpanzees."
Co-author Frans de Waal, PhD, adds, "Until our study, the
behavioral economics community assumed the Ultimatum Game could not be played
with animals or that animals would choose only the most selfish option while
playing. We've concluded that chimpanzees not only get very close to the human
sense of fairness, but the animals may actually have exactly the same
preferences as our own species." For purposes of direct comparison, the
study was also conducted separately with human children.
In the study, researchers tested six adult chimpanzees (Pan
troglodytes) and 20 human children (ages 2 -- 7 years) on a modified Ultimatum
Game. One individual chose between two differently colored tokens that, with
his or her partner's cooperation, could be exchanged for rewards (small food
rewards for chimpanzees and stickers for children). One token offered equal
rewards to both players, whereas the other token favored the individual making
the choice at the expense of his or her partner. The chooser then needed to
hand the token to the partner, who needed to exchange it with the experimenter
for food. This way, both individuals needed to be in agreement.
Both the chimpanzees and the children responded like adult
humans typically do. If the partner's cooperation was required, the chimpanzees
and children split the rewards equally. However, with a passive partner, who
had no chance to reject the offer, chimpanzees and children chose the selfish
option.
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| dailymail.co.uk |
Chimpanzees,
who are highly cooperative in the wild, likely need to be sensitive to reward
distributions in order to reap the benefits of cooperation. Thus, this study
opens the door for further explorations into the mechanisms behind this
human-like behavior.
For eight decades, the Yerkes National Primate Research Center,
Emory University, has been dedicated to conducting essential basic science and
translational research to advance scientific understanding and to improve the
health and well-being of humans and nonhuman primates. Today, the center, as
one of only eight National Institutes of Health-funded national primate
research centers, provides leadership, training and resources to foster
scientific creativity, collaboration and discoveries. Yerkes-based research is
grounded in scientific integrity, expert knowledge, respect for colleagues, an
open exchange of ideas and compassionate quality animal care.
Within the fields of microbiology and immunology, neurologic
diseases, neuropharmacology, behavioral, cognitive and developmental
neuroscience, and psychiatric disorders, the center's research programs are
seeking ways to: develop vaccines for infectious and noninfectious diseases;
treat drug addiction; interpret brain activity through imaging; increase
understanding of progressive illnesses such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases;
unlock the secrets of memory; determine how the interaction between genetics
and society shape who we are; and advance knowledge about the evolutionary
links between biology and behavior.
Source: Emory University
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