Social context and consumption of unfamiliar foods by capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) over repeated encounters

Dados Bibliográficos

ID22899212
AutoresElisabetta Visalberghi (0000-0001-7407-5468, Istituto Psicoanalitico per le Ricerche Sociali, autor correspondente), Marina Valente (0009-0003-4169-9209, Istituto Psicoanalitico per le Ricerche Sociali), Dorothy M Fragaszy (0000-0002-4010-4993, University of Georgia), Dorothy Fragaszy
Ano1998
Volume45
Fascículo4
Páginas367-380
Data de publicação1998-01-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAmerican Journal of Primatology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0275-2565 • E-ISSN: 1098-2345
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/(sici)1098-2345(1998)45:4<367::aid-ajp4>3.0.co;2-u
PMID9702282
OpenAlexW2020630552
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas16
Referências citadas20

Visalberghi and Fragaszy [Animal Behaviour 49:1089-1095, 1995] have shown that social influences affect acceptance of novel foods. However, little is known about the temporal course on which such influences act (e.g., for how long they persist and for how many encounters they are effective). To explore this issue, 11 adult tufted capuchins were observed during ten successive encounters with eight unfamiliar foods (phase 1, in which subjects were tested in social or individual condition) and ten more encounters 6 months later (phase 2, in which all subjects were tested in social condition). A total of 680 observational sessions were carried out. Results show that during the first five encounters in phase 1, capuchins ate more when they encountered these foods in the presence of their groupmates than if they encountered them alone. Thereafter, during the second five encounters of phase 1, foods were consumed equivalently whether presented to monkeys socially or individually. In phase 2, the foods were consumed equivalently regardless of the previous circumstance of their presentation (social or alone). In phase 2, consumption was similar to that scored in a previous study for familiar foods [Visalberghi & Fragaszy, Animal Behaviour 49:1089-1095, 1995]. We conclude that 1) foods remain unfamiliar to capuchins only for the first few encounters, 2) social facilitation of consumption of unfamiliar foods is of limited duration, and 3) individuals consumed equivalent amounts of an unfamiliar food when they repeatedly encountered it alone or in the presence of groupmates. These results caution those who interpret similar feeding habits in primate groups as evidence of social influences.

Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Biology · Cebidae · Consumption (sociology) · Context (archaeology) · Geography · Zoology · Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies · Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior · Communication · Primate Behavior and Ecology · Psychology