The monkey loves those who imitate him

We humans often imitate the style and style of the opposite person, which often happens while both sides are unaware.

Previous studies have shown that imitation can increase the sympathy and sympathy that people imitate for imitators. Broader, the common behaviors of humankind have made it easier for us to get along better and grow together in a community. In other words, imitation contributes to helping strangers become friends.

But is this true for other primates - this is still an open question. The new study, published in the August 14 issue of Science, confirms this effect in capuchin monkeys, a highly socially living primate that is closely related.

Annika Paukner from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and colleagues conducted a series of experiments on monkeys.

Each monkey is given a handball. They often play by grabbing the ball with their fingers, sucking the ball in their mouths or hitting the ground.

Monkey hats live in Brazil. (Photo: Elisabetta Visalberghi)

Each monkey will be paired with two more people who also have the ball in hand. A person immediately imitates the monkey's action, while the other person performs another action (for example, hitting the ground while the monkey throws the ball with his hand).

The monkeys often stare at the person imitating it while playing with the ball, and will choose to sit near this person's position in the cage ( each cage has 3 parts, one in front of the imitator, one in front of the person) do another move, and one is neutral in the middle).

Monkey also showed favor to imitators in another game. He took a small cosmetic from his hand, then handed it back to receive a piece of marshmallows. Both imitators and non-imitators offered equal rewards, but monkeys chose to exchange more with imitators.

Researchers believe that this is a sign that monkeys have a strong sense of attachment to imitators, like the phenomenon that occurs in human society.

'I believe that the link between imitation and cohesion is a fundamental mechanism, and it can exist in many other primates, even in lower-level animals that also live in cities. each group is social, ' Paukner said in an email. 'Of course we will continue to research to determine how popular this mechanism is in the animal world.'

More research is needed to know if imitation is really creating a sense of cohesion, said Josep Call, official at the Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology Max Planck.

It is also possible to imitate a manifestation of dependence, so monkeys feel less intimidated by an imitator , he wrote in an article along the line of events in Science.