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Article published In: Coordination, Collaboration and Cooperation: Interdisciplinary perspectives
Edited by Federica Amici and Lucas M. Bietti
[Interaction Studies 16:3] 2015
► pp. 361–382

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Cooperation in primates

A critical, methodological review

 | Ethology and Animal Welfare Section, Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera, Valencia, Spain |
Published online: 31 December 2015
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https://doi.org/10.1075/is.16.3.02alb
Observational studies have suggested that some nonhuman primates’ cooperative behavior may rely on their capacity to share goals and understand the role of their partners. Experimental studies have tried to find evidence for this under controlled conditions, investigating aspects like the degree of organization in different primate species and the individuals’ capacity to recognize and choose good partners, switch roles with them, and care about their outcomes. Often, the results have been mixed. Partly, this is because of the methodological difficulties inherent to empirical research. In this paper, I offer a critical, methodological review of the experimental studies done in the last years on nonhuman primates’ cooperation, I discuss their findings, and suggest possible solutions to some of the procedural problems. Hopefully, this will contribute to improve the design of future studies and therefore our knowledge about the evolutionary history of cooperation.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.First experimental studies on cooperation
  • 3.The cooperative-pulling paradigm
  • 4.The loose-rope apparatus
  • 5.Appreciation of the need for a partner and the quality of a partner
  • 6.Complementary roles
  • 7.Attending to the outcomes of the partner
  • 8.Preference for cooperative over individual tasks
  • 9.Discussion and conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
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