Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The question of animal culture

  • Published:
Human Nature Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this paper I consider whether traditional behaviors of animals, like traditions of humans, are transmitted by imitation learning. Review of the literature on problem solving by captive primates, and detailed consideration of two widely cited instances of purported learning by imitation and of culture in free-living primates (sweet-potato washing by Japanese macaques and termite fishing by chimpanzees), suggests that nonhuman primates do not learn to solve problems by imitation. It may, therefore, be misleading to treat animal traditions and human culture as homologous (rather than analogous) and to refer to animal traditions as cultural.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Altmann, J. 1980Baboon Mothers and Infants. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aristotle 1941The Basic Works of Aristotle. New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. 1977Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bard, K. A., and J. Vauclair 1984 The Communicative Context of Object Manipulation in Ape and Human Adult-Infant Pairs.Journal of Human Evolution 13:181–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, S. A. 1968 The Instinct to Teach.Nature [London] 220:747.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 1981Modern Ethology. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birch, H. G. 1945 The Relation of Previous Experience to Insightful Problem-Solving.Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 38:367.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boesch, C. 1991 Teaching among Wild Chimpanzees.Animal Behaviour 41:530–532.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonner, J. T. 1980The Evolution of Culture in Animals. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyd, R., and P. J. Richerson 1985Culture and the Evolutionary Process. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burghardt, G. M. 1991 Cognitive Ethology and Critical Anthropomorphism: A Snake with Two Heads and Hog-nose Snakes That Play Dead. InCognitive Ethology, C. A. Ristau, ed. Pp. 53–90. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caro, T. M., and M. D. Hauser 1991 Is There Evidence of Teaching in Animals?Quarterly Review of Biology, in press.

  • Clayton, D. A. 1978 Socially Facilitated Behavior.Quarterly Review of Biology 53:373–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins, D. A., and W. C. McGrew 1987 Termite Fauna Related to Differences in Tool Use between Groups of Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).Primates 28:457–471.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darwin, C. 1871The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. London: Murray.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Waal, F. 1982Chimpanzee Politics. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • in press Behavioral Contrasts between the Two Species ofPan with Special Attention to Tension Regulation Among Captive Bonobos. InUnderstanding Chimpanzees, P. Heltne, ed. Chicago: Chicago Academy of Sciences.

  • Ewer, R. F. 1969 The “Instinct to Teach.”Nature 222:698.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, J., and R. A. Hinde 1949 The Opening of Milk Bottles by Birds.British Birds 42:347–357.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galef, B. G., Jr. 1976 Social Transmission of Acquired Behavior: A Discussion of Tradition and Social Learning in Vertebrates. InAdvances in the Study of Behavior, vol. 6, J. S. Rosenblatt, R. A. Hinde, E. Shaw, and C. Beer, eds. Pp. 77–100. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • 1980 Diving for Food: Analysis of a Possible Case of Social Learning in Rats (Rattus norvegicus).Journal of Comparative Psychology 94:416–425.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 1988 Imitation in Animals: History, Definition, and Interpretation of Data from the Psychological Laboratory. InSocial Learning: Psychological and Biological Perspectives, T. R. Zentall and B. G. Galef, Jr., eds. Pp. 3–28. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • 1990 Tradition in Animals: Field Observations and Laboratory Analysis. InInterpretation and Explanation in the Study of Animal Behavior, M. Beckoff and D. Jamieson, eds. Pp. 74–95. Boulder: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodall, J. 1970 Tool-Using in Primates and Other Vertebrates.Advances in the Study of Behavior 3:195–250.

    Google Scholar 

  • 1973 Cultural Elements in a Chimpanzee Community. InPrecultural Primate Behavior, W. Montagna, ed. Pp. 144–184. Symposia of the Fourth International Congress of Primatology, Vol. 1. Basel: Karger.

    Google Scholar 

  • 1986The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behaviour. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gove, P. B., ed. 1971Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged. Springfield, Massachusetts: G. & C. Merriam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, S. 1975 Dialects in Japanese Monkeys.Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie 38:305–314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gyger, M., and P. Marler 1988 Food Calling in Domestic Fowl (Gallus gallus): The Role of External Referents and Deception.Animal Behaviour 36:358–365.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hinde, R. A. 1971 Development of Social Behavior. InBehavior of Nonhuman Primates, Vol. 3, A. M. Schrier and F. Stollnitz, eds. Pp. 1–78. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hodos, W., and C. B. G. Campbell 1969Scala naturae: Why There Is No Theory in Comparative Psychology.Psychological Review 76:337–350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Itani, J., and A. Nishimura 1973 The Study of Infrahuman Culture in Japan. InPrecultural Primate Behavior, W. Montagna, ed. Pp. 26–50. Symposium of the Fourth International Congress of Primatology, Vol. 1. Basel: Karger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kawai, M. 1965 Newly Acquired Pre-Cultural Behavior of the Natural Troop of Japanese Monkeys on Koshima Islet.Primates 6:1–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kawamura, S. 1959 The Process of Sub-Culture Propagation among Japanese Macaques.Primates 2:43–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Köhler, W. 1959The Mentality of Apes. New York: Vintage Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kummer, H. 1971Primate Societies. Chicago: Aldine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, C. T., and C. Short 1969A Latin Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McBeath, N., and W. McGrew 1982 Tools Used by Wild Chimpanzees to Obtain Termites at Mt. Assirik, Senegal: The Influence of Habitat.Journal of Human Evolution 11:65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McFarland, D. 1985Animal Behaviour. Bath: Pitman Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGrew, W. C., and M. Rogers 1983 Chimpanzees, Tools and Termites: New Record from Gabon.American Journal of Primatology 5:171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGrew, W. C., C. E. G. Tutin, and P. J. Baldwin 1979 Chimpanzees, Tools and Termites: Cross-Cultural Comparisons of Senegal, Tanzania, and Rio Muni.Man 14:185–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mead, M. 1970 Our Educational Emphasis in Primitive Perspective. InFrom Child to Adult: Studies in the Anthropology of Education, J. Middleton, ed. Pp. 120–141. New York: Natural History Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Menzel, E. W. 1966 Responsiveness to Objects in Free-Ranging Japanese Monkeys.Behaviour 26:130–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Menzel, E. W., R. K. Davenport, Jr., and H. M. Rogers 1970 The Development of Tool Using in Wild-Born and Restriction-Reared Chimpanzees.Folia Primatologia 12:273–283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milton, K. 1988 Foraging Behavior and the Evolution of Primate Intelligence. InMachiavellian Intelligance, R. W. Byrne and A. Whiten, eds. Pp. 285–305. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, C. L. 1894An Introduction to Comparative Psychology. London: Walter Scott.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nishida, T. 1987 Local Traditions and Cultural Tradition. InPrimate Societies, B. B. Smuts, D. L. Cheney, R. M. Seyfarth, R. W. Wrangham, and T. T. Struhsaker, eds. Pp. 462–474. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nishida, T., and S. Uehara 1980 Chimpanzees, Tools, and Termites: Another Example from Tanzania.Current Anthropology 21:671–672.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nishida, T., R. Wrangham, J. Goodall, and S. Urhara 1983 Local Differences in Plant Feeding Habits of Chimpanzees between the Mahale Mountains and the Gombe National Park, Tanzania.Journal of Human Evolution 12:467–480.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Premack, D. 1991 The Aesthetic Basis of Pedagogy. InCognition and the Symbolic Processes, R. R. Hoffman and D. S. Palermo, eds. Pp. 303–325. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ristau, C. 1991 Aspects of the Cognitive Ethology of an Injury-Feigning Bird, the Piping Plover. InCognitive Ethology, C. Ristau, ed. Pp. 91–152. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, A. R. 1988 Does Biology Constrain Culture?American Anthropologist 90:819–831.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romanes, G. 1882Animal Intelligence. London: Kegan, Paul, Trench.

    Google Scholar 

  • 1884Mental Evolution in Animals. New York: AMS Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sahlins, M. 1976The Use and Abuse of Biology. London: Tavistock.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schiller, P. H 1952 Innate Constituents of Complex Responses in Primates.Psychological Review 59:177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 1957 Innate Motor Action as a Basis of Learning. InInstinctive Behavior, C. H. Schiller, ed. Pp. 264–287. New York: International Universities Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sherry, D. F., and B. G. Galef, Jr. 1984 Cultural Transmission without Imitation: Milk Bottle Opening by Birds.Animal Behaviour 32:937–938.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 1990 Social Learning without Imitation: More about Milk Bottle Opening by Birds.Animal Behaviour 40:987–989.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simon, H. A. 1990 A Mechanism for Social Selection and Successful Altruism.Science 250:1665–1668.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Speidel, G. E., and K. E. Nelson 1989The Many Faces of Imitation in Language Learning. New York: Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sumita, K., J. Kitahara-Frisch, and K. Norikoshi 1985 The Acquisition of Stone Tool Use in Captive Chimpanzees.Primates 26:168–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teleki, G. 1974 Chimpanzee Subsistence Technology: Materials and Skills.Journal of Human Evolution 3:575.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thorpe, W. H. 1963Learning and Instinct in Animals, second ed. London: Methuen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomasello, M. 1990 Cultural Transmission in the Tool Use and Communication Signalling of Chimpanzees. InLanguage and Intelligence in Monkeys and Apes, S. Parker and K. Gibson, eds. Pp. 274–311. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomasello, M., M. Davis-Dasilva, L. Camak, and K. Bard 1987 Observational Learning of Tool-Use by Young Chimpanzees.Human Evolution 2:175–183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Visalberghi, E., and D. M. Fragaszy 1990a Do Monkeys Ape? In“Language” and Intelligence in Monkeys and Apes, S. Parker and K. Gibson, eds. Pp. 247–273. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • 1990b Food Washing Behaviour in Tufted Capuchin Monkeys,Cebus apella, and Crabeating Macaques,Macaca fascularis.Animal Behaviour 40:829–836.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vygotsky, L. S. 1962Thought and Language. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, G. C. 1966Adaptation and Natural Selection. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, E. O. 1975Sociobiology: The New Synthesis. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zajonc, R. B. 1965 Social Facilitation.Science 149:269–274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, McMaster University, L8S 4K1, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

    Bennett G. Galef

Authors
  1. Bennett G. Galef
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Preparation of this manuscript was greatly facilitated by funds from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the McMaster University Research Board.

Dr. Galef is Professor of Psychology and Associate Member of the Department of Biology at McMaster University. Since receiving his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania in 1968, Dr. Galef’s research and scholarly activities have been focused on studies of social learning and tradition in animals.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Galef, B.G. The question of animal culture. Human Nature 3, 157–178 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02692251

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02692251

Key words

Search

Navigation