Work

Chimpanzees use self-distraction to cope with impulsivity

Year: 2007

Type: article

Abstract: It is unknown whether animals, like humans, can employ behavioural strategies to cope with impulsivity. To examine this question, we tested whether chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) would use self-distraction as a coping strategy in a situation in which they had to continually inhibit responses to accumulating candies in order to earn a greater amount of those rewards. We tested animals in three conditions in which they were sometimes given a set of toys and were sometimes allowed physical access to the accumulating candies. Chimpanzees allowed the rewards to accumulate longer before responding when they could divert their attention to the toys, and they manipulated the toys more when the candies were physically accessible. Thus, chimpanzees engaged in self-distraction with the toys when such behaviour was most beneficial as a coping mechanism.

Source: Biology Letters

DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2007.0399

Authors: Theodore A Evans, Michael J Beran

Institution: Georgia State University

Language: English

Topic: Primate Behavior and Ecology

Subfield: Social Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Awards: G14133885, Metacognition as a Precursor to Self-consciousness: Evolution, Development, and Epistemology, G71159261, Brain, Behavior and Emergence of Cognitive Competence