Application of psychology to everyday life

The study by Yamamoto et al. demonstrates that chimpanzees, like

humans, have the capacity and inclination to help conspecifics. It can
also help us to understand more about how chimpanzee societies work
in the wild.

Individual and situational explanations

Yamamoto et al.’s study is interesting in that it shows the influence of
individual and situational factors on the helping behaviour of
chimpanzees. Most chimpanzees demonstrated similar patterns of
behaviour in a social situation because they offered tools to
conspecifics in need. However, one chimpanzee showed a clear
preference for a specific non tool, possibly as a result of their own
prior learning. Another chimpanzee initiated problem-solving in the
‘cannot see’ condition by peering over the opaque panel to observe his
partner. Both of these cases demonstrate the influence of individual
personalities on common social behaviours.

Use of animals in psychological research

The study of flexible, targeted helping by Yamamoto et al. is useful in
that it can allow us to make some comparisons between chimpanzees
and humans. For example, a more recent study has shown that such
chimpanzee helping approximates the level of helping shown by 18-
month old toddlers (Svetlova et al., 2010). They have capacity for
understanding the needs of others, as well as a willingness to help. In
contrast, by around 30 months, humans have developed capacity for
spontaneous helping. However, the cognitive processes involved in
theory of mind in humans and primates are not yet well understood.
Furthermore, the culture of chimpanzee societies is quite different
from humans (e.g. family structures, group sizes and hierarchies), which
makes direct comparison difficult.

Yamamoto et al.’s study looked at flexible targeted helping in

chimpanzees. As a laboratory experiment it was well controlled and
was able to show that chimpanzees can offer carefully targeted help to
conspecifics. Chimpanzees were able to offer tools to their partners in
most cases, and usually only when assistance was directly requested.
Careful observation of the participants’ behaviour provided reliable
measures of helping, although the experiment only used a small
sample. The findings show that humans may not be unique in
possessing some capacity for theory of mind as they suggest
chimpanzees can understand the goals and needs of others.