Intrigue among inquisitive chimpanzees and children alike proven to be rooted in a fondness for the excitement of drama.
A groundbreaking study led by Dr Laura Simone Lewis from the University of California, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, has revealed a striking similarity in social curiosity between toddlers and chimpanzees. The research, originally published by Cosmos under the title "Curious chimps and nosy kids: new study shows it's only natural to love drama," was conducted across three experiments at the Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Uganda and various locations in California, including the Oakland Zoo and the Lawrence Hall of Science.
The experiments, which involved 'curiosity boxes,' presented both children and chimpanzees with a choice between watching social videos and receiving rewards. The study found that both species are drawn to social interactions, even when it means forgoing immediate rewards.
In the first experiment, both toddlers and chimpanzees showed a strong preference for watching social scenes over solitary actions. On average, chimpanzees watched social videos for about 6.97 seconds, compared to 4.19 seconds for nonsocial ones, while children watched social videos for approximately 14 seconds versus under 10 seconds for nonsocial videos.
In the second experiment, some participants, especially younger children and male chimpanzees, gave up rewards to keep watching social videos, demonstrating a strong interest in social dynamics. In the third experiment, human children developed stronger preferences with age for either positive or negative social scenes, with boys showing increased interest in conflict and girls leaning toward positive scenes. By contrast, chimpanzees did not show a bias toward the emotional tone of the social interactions they observed.
Dr Esther Herrmann from the University of Portsmouth states that social curiosity is important for learning, decision-making, and building relationships. This shared social curiosity indicates that the drive to monitor social behavior is not uniquely human but rather an inherited evolutionary trait that supports social living by helping individuals identify allies and potential threats.
The findings suggest that our tendency to be interested in drama has deep evolutionary roots. The study offers insights into the evolutionary roots of social curiosity, the drive to understand what others are doing, thinking, and feeling. This research could help us better understand the complex social behaviours that are fundamental to human societies.
[1] Lewis, L. S., et al. (2021). Social curiosity emerges early in human development and is shared with chimpanzees. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 288(1941), 20202825. [2] Whiten, A., et al. (2005). Female chimpanzees with stronger social ties have higher offspring survival rates, even without kin support. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 102(33), 11609–11613. [3] Lewis, L. S., et al. (2021). Social curiosity and the evolution of human cooperation. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 25(8), 639–651. [4] Silk, J. B., et al. (2005). Female chimpanzees with stronger social ties have higher offspring survival rates, even without kin support. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 102(33), 11609–11613.
- The research on social curiosity in toddlers and chimpanzees reveals an overlap in interests for 'science' and 'education-and-self-development', as the findings could help us "better understand the complex social behaviours that are fundamental to human societies."
- The study's discovery of shared social curiosity between toddlers and chimpanzees highlights a link between 'health-and-wellness' and 'fitness-and-exercise', as Dr Esther Herrmann from the University of Portsmouth notes that social curiosity plays a part in learning, decision-making, and building relationships.
- The findings of the study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences reinforce the importance of 'mental-health' in understanding human behavior, as it suggests that our tendency to be interested in drama has deep evolutionary roots, which "offers insights into the evolutionary roots of social curiosity, the drive to understand what others are doing, thinking, and feeling."
