Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Gill L. Vale, Emma G. Flynn, Lydia Pender, Elizabeth Price, Andrew Whiten, Susan P. Lambeth, Steven J. Schapiro, Rachel L. Kendal
Long-term memory can be critical to a species' survival in environments with seasonal and even longer-term cycles of resource availability. The present, longitudinal study investigated whether complex tool behaviors used to gain an out-of-reach reward, following a hiatus of about 3 years and 7 months since initial experiences with a tool use task, were retained and subsequently executed more quickly by experienced than by naïve chimpanzees. Ten of the 11 retested chimpanzees displayed impressive long-term procedural memory, creating elongated tools using the same methods employed years previously, either combining 2 tools or extending a single tool. The complex tool behaviors were also transferred to a different task context, showing behavioral flexibility. This represents some of the first evidence for appreciable long-term procedural memory, and improvements in the utility of complex tool manufacture in chimpanzees. Such long-term procedural memory and behavioral flexibility have important implications for the longevity and transmission of behavioral traditions.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 24-35 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Journal of Comparative Psychology |
Volume | 130 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Feb 2016 |
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Manon Karin Schweinfurth (Member of editorial board)
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Josep Call (Member of editorial board)
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Josep Call (Editor)
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Andrew Whiten (Member of editorial board)
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