Chimps may be our closest relatives, but you wouldn't want to rely on one in a pinch. Apparently, they don't share the human willingness to do favors for others.
A team of scientists led by Joan B. Silk of the University of California, Los Angeles conducted two sets of experiments with chimps in captivity in Texas and Louisiana to measure their propensity for altruism. More than two dozen were presented with an apparatus that gave them two options: They could choose to get food only for themselves, or they could get food in a way that also gave some to another chimp.
The chimps, though, were no more inclined to go for the option that gave food to another chimp even if they knew the other chimp.
Because chimps collaborate in a variety of ways, researchers suspected they would share the human penchant for altruism.
The study however, may indicate that such behavior is "tied to sophisticated capacities for cultural learning, theory of mind, perspective taking and moral judgment," the researchers wrote.
Or not. Mebbe they're just mean little bastards, but then I'm not looking for a grant. |