Learning from Communication Versus Observation: Great Apes Ignore Theirobservation When it Contradicts Communicatively Transmitted Information

Abstract

When human infants are intentionally addressed by others, they tend to interpret theinformation communicated as being relevant to them and worth acquiring. For humans, thisattribution of relevance leads to a preference to learn from communication, making itpossible to accumulate knowledge over generations. Great apes are sensitive tocommunicative cues, but do these cues also activate an expectation of relevance? In anobservational learning paradigm, we demonstrated how to operate on a device. When apeshad the opportunity to choose between an efficient and an inefficient method in the baselineconditions, the majority of them chose the efficient method. However, when the inefficientmethod was demonstrated in a communicative way, they failed to prioritize efficiency,even though they were equally attentive in both conditions. This suggests that the ostensivedemonstration elicited an expectation of relevance that modified apes’ interpretation of thesituation, potentially leading to a preference to learn from communication, as humanchildren do.