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Why Do Chimpanzees Trust Their Friends

Decent Essays

Overall the popular press articles had a surprisingly accurate depiction of the research study they were reporting. All of the articles explained the method of the study and the overall result. However, they did exclude some important information from the study. The research article, “Chimpanzees Trust Their Friends” was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, the experimenters observed chimpanzees and coded their behavior to determine who they were “friends” with and who their “non-friends” were. The next stage was the experimental stage in which the chimps were tested 12 times with their friends and 12 times with their non-friends. The chimps were placed across from each other in separate rooms, but were able to see each other. The chimp being tested had two ropes that they could choose to pull, one rope would give them less desirable food (no trust rope) while the other would give them the opportunity to receive desirable food, but only if the other chimp agreed to it (trust rope). If the trust rope was pulled, the chimp not being tested would receive the desirable food and would then decide to pull their own rope or not. If they choose to pull their rope, then the chimp being tested would also receive the desirable food but if they decided not to pull the rope then the study ended. Overall, chimps trusted their friends more than non-friends. However, both friends and non-friend chimps decided to reciprocate the trust in over two-thirds of the trusting events. Instead of trust, these results could be due to increased pro sociality toward their friends. …show more content…

All of the articles explain the two stages in which the research was conducted. They also accurately describe the experimental phase and the tasks that the chimps participated in. Lastly, the articles explain the main finding, which is that the results suggest that chimps are capable of trust and that trust is not unique to

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