How to crack nuts: acquisition process in captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) observing a model

Stone tool use for nut cracking consists of placing a hard-shelled nut onto a stone anvil and then cracking the shell open by pounding it with a stone hammer to get to the kernel. We investigated the acquisition of tool use for nut cracking in a group of captive chimpanzees to clarify what kind of understanding of the tools and actions will lead to the acquisition of this type of tool use in the presence of a skilled model. A human experimenter trained a male chimpanzee until he mastered the use of a hammer and anvil stone to crack open macadamia nuts. He was then put in a nut-cracking situation together with his group mates, who were naïve to this tool use; we did not have a control group without a model. The results showed that the process of acquisition could be broken down into several steps, including recognition of applying pressure to the nut, emergence of the use of a combination of three objects, emergence of the hitting action, using a tool for hitting, and hitting the nut. The chimpanzees recognized these different components separately and practiced them one after another. They gradually united these factors in their behavior leading to their first success. Their behavior did not clearly improve immediately after observing successful nut cracking by a peer, but observation of a skilled group member seemed to have a gradual, long-term influence on the acquisition of nut cracking by naïve chimpanzees.

[1]  V. Bels,et al.  Substrate optimization in nut cracking by capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) , 2006, American Journal of Primatology.

[2]  T. Matsuzawa,et al.  Development of stone tool use by wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). , 1997, Journal of comparative psychology.

[3]  C. Boesch,et al.  The Chimpanzees of the Tai Forest : Behavioural Ecology and Evolution , 2000 .

[4]  N. Morimura.  A note on enrichment for spontaneous tool use by chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ) , 2003 .

[5]  D. Biro,et al.  Emergence of a culture in wild chimpan-zees: education by master-apprenticeship , 2001 .

[6]  N. Morimura.  Cognitive Enrichment in Chimpanzees: An Approach of Welfare Entailing an Animal’s Entire Resources , 2006 .

[7]  T. Matsuzawa.  Field experiments on use of stone tools by chimpanzees in the wild. , 1994 .

[8]  S. Savage-Rumbaugh,et al.  Performance in a tool-using task by common chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), bonobos (Pan paniscus), an orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), and capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). , 1995, Journal of comparative psychology.

[9]  James R. Anderson,et al.  Use of objects as hammers to open nuts by capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). , 1990, Folia primatologica; international journal of primatology.

[10]  Dora Biro,et al.  Ontogeny and Cultural Propagation of Tool Use by Wild Chimpanzees at Bossou, Guinea: Case Studies in Nut Cracking and Leaf Folding , 2006 .

[11]  T. Matsuzawa.  The chimpanzee mind: in search of the evolutionary roots of the human mind , 2009, Animal Cognition.

[12]  A. Meltzoff,et al.  Children's coding of human action: cognitive factors influencing imitation in 3-year-olds. , 2000, Developmental science.

[13]  Dorothy Fragaszy,et al.  Wild capuchin monkeys (Cebus libidinosus) use anvils and stone pounding tools , 2004, American journal of primatology.

[14]  A. Whiten,et al.  On the Nature and Evolution of Imitation in the Animal Kingdom: Reappraisal of a Century of Research , 1992 .

[15]  Tetsuro Matsuzawa,et al.  Great Ape Societies: Chimpanzee intelligence in nature and in captivity: isomorphism of symbol use and tool use , 1996 .

[16]  B. Beck.  Animal Tool Behavior , 1980 .

[17]  James R. Anderson,et al.  Chimpanzees of Sapo Forest, Liberia: Density, nests, tools and meat-eating , 1983, Primates.

[18]  D. Biro,et al.  Cultural innovation and transmission of tool use in wild chimpanzees: evidence from field experiments , 2003, Animal Cognition.

[19]  G. Westergaard,et al.  The stone tools of capuchins (Cebus apella) , 1995, International Journal of Primatology.

[20]  Factors influencing imitation of manipulatory actions in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). , 1999 .

[21]  K. Izawa.  Foods and feeding behavior of wild black-capped capuchin (Cebus apella) , 2006, Primates.

[22]  C Boesch,et al.  Tool use and tool making in wild chimpanzees. , 1990, Folia primatologica; international journal of primatology.

[23]  S. Hirata,et al.  Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) learn to act with other individuals in a cooperative task , 2006, Primates.

[24]  P. Izar,et al.  Watching the best nutcrackers: what capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) know about others’ tool-using skills , 2005, Animal Cognition.

[25]  E. Visalberghi,et al.  Tool use in capuchin monkeys: Distinguishing between performing and understanding , 1989, Primates.

[26]  D. Washburn.  Primate Perspectives on Behavior and Cognition , 2006 .

[27]  Ludwig Huber,et al.  Do capuchin monkeys use weight to select hammer tools? , 2008, Animal Cognition.

[28]  E. Visalberghi,et al.  Lack of comprehension of cause-effect relations in tool-using capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). , 1994, Journal of comparative psychology.

[29]  A. Whiten,et al.  Cultures in chimpanzees , 1999, Nature.

[30]  Tetsuro Matsuzawa,et al.  Primate Origins of Human Cognition and Behavior , 2001, Springer Japan.

[31]  Tetsuro Matsuzawa,et al.  Cognitive Development in Chimpanzees , 2021, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology.

[32]  P. C. Lee,et al.  Capuchin Stone Tool Use in Caatinga Dry Forest , 2004, Science.

[33]  T Matsuzawa,et al.  Factors influencing imitation of manipulatory actions in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). , 1999, Journal of comparative psychology.

[34]  C. Boesch,et al.  Optimisation of Nut-Cracking With Natural Hammers By Wild Chimpanzees , 1983 .

[35]  J. Kitahara-Frisch,et al.  The acquisition of stone-tool use in captive chimpanzees , 1985, Primates.

[36]  A. Whiten,et al.  CHARTING CULTURAL VARIATION IN CHIMPANZEES , 2001 .

[37]  E. Ottoni,et al.  Semifree-ranging Tufted Capuchins (Cebus apella) Spontaneously Use Tools to Crack Open Nuts , 2001, International Journal of Primatology.

[38]  R. Byrne.  Imitation as behaviour parsing. , 2003, Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences.

[39]  A. W. Smitman,et al.  Stone knapping: The necessary conditions for a uniquely hominid behaviour , 2005 .

[40]  T. Matsuzawa.  Primate Foundations of Human Intelligence: A View of Tool Use in Nonhuman Primates and Fossil Hominids , 2008 .

[41]  W. McGrew,et al.  Why Don't Chimpanzees in Gabon Crack Nuts? , 1997, International Journal of Primatology.

[42]  Satoshi Hirata,et al.  Tool use as a way to assess cognition: how do captive chimpanzees handle the weight of the hammer when cracking a nut? , 2009, Animal Cognition.

[43]  A. Mizuno,et al.  Palm-fruit cracking behavior of wild black-capped capuchin (Cebus apella) , 1977, Primates.

[44]  Yukimaru Sugiyama,et al.  Tool-using and -making behavior in wild chimpanzees at Bossou, Guinea , 1979, Primates.

[45]  S. Siegel,et al.  Nonparametric Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences , 2022, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Research Design.

[46]  Sarah T. Boysen,et al.  Comprehension of Cause-Effect Relations in a Tool-Using Task by Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) , 1995 .

[47]  E. Visalberghi.  Acquisition of Nut-Cracking Behaviour by 2 Capuchin Monkeys (Cebus apella) , 1987 .

[48]  Jane Goodall,et al.  Great Ape Societies: Minds , 1996 .

[49]  S. Hirata,et al.  Studies at the Great Ape Research Institute, Hayashibara. , 2007 .

[50]  E. Visalberghi,et al.  Characteristics of hammer stones and anvils used by wild bearded capuchin monkeys (Cebus libidinosus) to crack open palm nuts. , 2007, American journal of physical anthropology.

[51]  W. McGrew,et al.  Chimpanzees using stones to crack open oil palm nuts in Liberia , 2006, Primates.

[52]  T. Matsuzawa,et al.  How does stone-tool use emerge? Introduction of stones and nuts to naïve chimpanzees in captivity , 2005, Primates.

[53]  Michael Tomasello,et al.  Primate Cognition , 2010, Top. Cogn. Sci..