Social influence on the expression of robbing and bartering behaviours in Balinese long-tailed macaques.

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  • Additional Information
    • Source:
      Publisher: Springer Country of Publication: Germany NLM ID: 9814573 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1435-9456 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 14359448 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Anim Cogn Subsets: MEDLINE
    • Publication Information:
      Original Publication: Berlin : Springer, c1998-
    • Subject Terms:
      Macaca fascicularis* ; Social Learning*; Animals ; Indonesia ; Learning
    • Abstract:
      Animals use social information, available from conspecifics, to learn and express novel and adaptive behaviours. Amongst social learning mechanisms, response facilitation occurs when observing a demonstrator performing a behaviour temporarily increases the probability that the observer will perform the same behaviour shortly after. We studied "robbing and bartering" (RB), two behaviours routinely displayed by free-ranging long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) at Uluwatu Temple, Bali, Indonesia. When robbing, a monkey steals an inedible object from a visitor and may use this object as a token by exchanging it for food with the temple staff (bartering). We tested whether the expression of RB-related behaviours could be explained by response facilitation and was influenced by model-based biases (i.e. dominance rank, age, experience and success of the demonstrator). We compared video-recorded focal samples of 44 witness individuals (WF) immediately after they observed an RB-related event performed by group members, and matched-control focal samples (MCF) of the same focal subjects, located at similar distance from former demonstrators (N = 43 subjects), but in the absence of any RB-related demonstrations. We found that the synchronized expression of robbing and bartering could be explained by response facilitation. Both behaviours occurred significantly more often during WF than during MCF. Following a contagion-like effect, the rate of robbing behaviour displayed by the witness increased with the cumulative rate of robbing behaviour performed by demonstrators, but this effect was not found for the bartering behaviour. The expression of RB was not influenced by model-based biases. Our results support the cultural nature of the RB practice in the Uluwatu macaques.
    • Grant Information:
      2015-06034 Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (CA); G00003422 Alberta Gambling Research Institute, University of Alberta; G00002931 University of Lethbridge Research Fund; FL/JVG/vrn/1567 Leopold III Fund for the Exploration and Conservation of Nature
    • Contributed Indexing:
      Keywords: Behavioural contagion; Material culture; Model-based biases; Response facilitation; Social learning; Token exchange
    • Publication Date:
      Date Created: 20191211 Date Completed: 20200309 Latest Revision: 20200309
    • Publication Date:
      20240829
    • Accession Number:
      10.1007/s10071-019-01335-5
    • Accession Number:
      31820148