Theoretical Review
Volume 30, No 1, Published March 30, 2015
DOI: https://…
Keywords: tools, foraging, socially biased learning, behavioral traditions, culture.
ABSTRACT
Tool use was once a major defining feature of “human nature”. If the findings about the spontaneous use of tools by wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) forced us to rethink traditional views on the “unique and exclusive” character of human technological abilities, the discovery of similar behaviors in a few monkey species – one Old World monkey (Macaca fascicularis), and one genus of New World monkeys (Sapajus spp) – leads us to broader questions, focusing our attention not on phylogenetic proximity, but, rather, on the cognitive, ecological and social conditions and mechanisms fostering the emergence of tool use and behavioral traditions. The use of tools does not imply any particular underlying cognitive mechanisms: In most cases, it involves a single, “species-typical” behavior, which may look quite “hard-wired”. Even among tool-using birds, the development of such abilities seems to rely mostly on individual learning, building on innate predispositions. In the case of nonhuman primates’ toolkits, however, there is growing evidence of behavioral variation that cannot be explained just by genetic differences between populations, nor by different environmental pressures and affordances, suggesting the results of socially biased learning. The comparative approach, by itself, cannot provide hard evidence of behavioral traditions: Developmental studies, as well as field experiments, are helping to unravel the cultural nature of primate tool use. Although human culture (cumulative, symbolic) may depend on special cognitive features, such as “Theory of Mind”, enabling shared intentions, imitation, and purposeful teaching, simpler mechanisms, such as “stimulus enhancement”, can support the establishment of behavioral traditions. Moreover, the lasting changes in the environment produced by some forms of tool use can be seen as instances of “niche construction” optimizing naive observers’ learning opportunities.
ISSN: 2224-4476
