Children conform to the behavior of peers; other great apes stick with what they know
Haun, Rekers and Tomasello had two-year-old children, chimpanzees and orangutans learn by trial and error which section of a three-hole box gave food, then watched familiar members of their own species show a different section that worked equally well. Children switched to the demonstrated section in more than half of their choices; on the first test trial 12 of 18 children switched against 2 of 12 chimpanzees and 2 of 12 orangutans. In a second study with 72 children, switching was greater when the demonstrators stayed than when they left, and the number of demonstrators made no difference. The authors read this as evidence that social motives contribute to children's conformity and noted that general conservatism in the apes could not be excluded. Reading depth: full text; figures used are 18, 12 and 12 participants, 12 of 18, 2 of 12 and 72 children.
Haun, Rekers and Tomasello had two-year-old children, chimpanzees and orangutans learn by trial and error which section of a three-hole box gave food, then watched familiar members of their own species show a different section that worked equally well. Children switched to the demonstrated section in more than half of their choices; on the first test trial 12 of 18 children switched against 2 of 12 chimpanzees and 2 of 12 orangutans. In a second study with 72 children, switching was greater when the demonstrators stayed than when they left, and the number of demonstrators made no difference. The authors read this as evidence that social motives contribute to children's conformity and noted that general conservatism in the apes could not be excluded. Reading depth: full text; figures used are 18, 12 and 12 participants, 12 of 18, 2 of 12 and 72 children.
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Haun, D. B. M., Rekers, Y., & Tomasello, M. (2014). Children conform to the behavior of peers; other great apes stick with what they know. Psychological Science, 25(12), 2160-2167. doi:10.1177/0956797614553235 https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797614553235