9: Acquiring a Tradition: Lift or Poke?

Here is film from a study that shows chimpanzees learning by observation.

Chimpanzees were presented with a box containing a food treat that can be obtained in two different ways using a stick tool: lifting a catch or poking with the stick were both equally useful ways of obtaining the food.

A high-ranking chimpanzee from each of two groups was trained to use either the 'lift' or 'poke' technique before being re-introduced to her group. The study was designed to see if chimpanzees who watched the 'lifter' would learn to retrieve the treat using the 'lift' technique and if chimpanzees who watched the 'poker' would learn the 'poke' technique, sufficiently well to generate two different traditions in these groups.

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Prof. Andrew Whiten and Dr Victoria Horner, University of St Andrews; Prof. Frans de Waal, Living Links Centre, Emory University.