Growing up we learn by watching our parents. Children who see their parent talking on the phone will pretend to also be talking on the phone. Like wise a child seeing their parent mow the lawn will trail behind them with their toy lawn mower. We learn by imitating what we see our parents do. Tool-use behavior like using a stick to dip get ants for food, has been reported in many chimpanzee populations. The purpose of this study was to see how young chimpanzees are influenced by observation in their learning of tool use.
The study consisted of two groups of young chimpanzees (4-6 and 8-
9 years old). Each was given a T-bar and a food item that could only be
reached by using the T-bar. The experiment group was given the opportunity to observe an adult using the T-bar as a tool to get the food. The control group observed an adult who gave no demonstration of how to use the tool. The chimpanzees who were between 8-9 years old did not learn how to use the tool, except for one chimpanzee who was in the control. The one successful chimpanzee was the only one interested in the tool. However the chimpanzees who were 4-6 years old and who observed the adult’s demonstration of how to use the tool. Those in the control group did not learn to use the T-bar as a tool. None of the chimpanzees were able to imitate precise movements that the adult showed.
This study was important because it showed that the chimpanzees did not just learn how to manipulate the tool, but also that it could be used as a tool to get food. This study showed that young chimpanzees do not just copy what they see, rather they use observation to learn new tool-use behaviors.
Tomasello, M., Davis-DaSilva, M., Camak, L., & Bard, K. (1987). Observational learning of tool-use by young chimpanzees. Human Evolution, 2, 175-183. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02436405
