Abstract
BackgroundSocial conformity is a cornerstone of human culture because it accelerates and maintains the spread of behaviour within a group. Few empirical studies have investigated the role of social conformity in the maintenance of traditions despite an increasing body of literature on the formation of behavioural patterns in non-human animals. The current report presents a field experiment with free-ranging marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) which investigated whether social conformity is necessary for the maintenance of behavioural patterns within groups or whether individual effects such as habit formation would suffice.MethodsUsing a two-action apparatus, we established alternative behavioural patterns in six family groups composed of 36 individuals. These groups experienced only one technique during a training phase and were thereafter tested with two techniques available. The monkeys reliably maintained the trained method over a period of three weeks, despite discovering the alternative technique. Three additional groups were given the same number of sessions, but those 21 individuals could freely choose the method to obtain a reward. In these control groups, an overall bias towards one of the two methods was observed, but animals with a different preference did not adjust towards the group norm. Thirteen of the fifteen animals that discovered both techniques remained with the action with which they were initially successful, independent of the group preference and the type of action (Binomial test: exp. proportion: 0.5, p<0.01).ConclusionsThe results indicate that the maintenance of behavioural patterns within groups 1) could be explained by the first rewarded manipulation and subsequent habit formation and 2) do not require social conformity as a mechanism. After an initial spread of a behaviour throughout a group, this mechanism may lead to a superficial appearance of conformity without the involvement of such a socially and cognitively complex mechanism. This is the first time that such an experiment has been conducted with free-ranging primates.
Highlights
The emergence of culture through preservation of multiple traditions is considered a hallmark of human evolution as it creates an inheritance system that is largely independent of genetic transmission [1,2]
A tradition has been defined as a distinctive behaviour pattern shared by two or more individuals in a social unit that persists over time and that new practitioners may acquire in part through socially aided learning [5]
The fact that marmosets tested in the constrained condition as well as the individuals tested in the free condition showed a significant preference for the action they were trained or first successful with, suggests that they did not conform to group norms
Summary
The emergence of culture through preservation of multiple traditions is considered a hallmark of human evolution as it creates an inheritance system that is largely independent of genetic transmission [1,2]. A tradition has been defined as a distinctive behaviour pattern shared by two or more individuals in a social unit that persists over time and that new practitioners may acquire in part through socially aided learning [5]. Behavioural innovations and their spread can have significant effects on the fitness of individuals in a group if they do or do not partake in a new behavioural practice [6], as such practices can contribute to niche construction through behavioural adaptations to environmental changes [7]. The current report presents a field experiment with free-ranging marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) which investigated whether social conformity is necessary for the maintenance of behavioural patterns within groups or whether individual effects such as habit formation would suffice
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