In Solving Social Dilemmas, Vervet Monkeys Get by With a Little Patience

Mar. 28, 2013 — People could learn a lot from vervet monkeys. When vervets need to work together, they don't tell each other what to do or punish uncooperative behavior. But according to evidence reported on March 28 in the Cell Press journal Current Biology, they do get by, with a little patience.

"The vervets show us that tolerance towards group members and patience while others are learning how they can improve things individually can go a long way in solving coordination problems," said Ronald Noë of Université de Strasbourg in France.

In the study, the researchers had groups of vervet monkeys, two living freely in a South African park and another in captivity in France, play a social game without offering them any training on the game or how to play it. In each "forbidden circle" experiment, a single low-ranking female was trained to open a container holding a large amount of food only when other monkeys dominant to her stayed outside an imaginary circle. If anyone was to get their treats, everyone had to figure out the rules and show enough restraint to follow them.

And sure enough, the vervets did. One by one, without any guidance from humans, the dominant monkeys learned to control themselves. As soon as all of them showed restraint, the provider monkey in the middle opened the bin of food right away, saving everyone precious time.

Read on:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130328125056.htm