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Haun et al 2014

Content (AO1)

Aims

To directly compare the likelihood of different primates to adjust their behavior to that of their peers.

Sample

The sample includes
  • 18 human children (9 female, 9 male, mean age 28 months)
  • 12 chimpanzees (7 female, 5 male, mean age 121 months)
  • 12 orangutans (6 female, 6 male, mean age 102 months)
(it was planned for there to be 18 participants for each species, but this was not met because fo a lack of available animals)

Procedure

The experiment uses a box with three sections. (they are connected unlike the rough diagram)
 

 


 
Each section have a different color. The middle section is shorter while the other two have the same height. There is a hole on top of each section.
For the case of chimpanzees, the box is attached to a steel mesh observation room. For the case of children, the box is placed on the ground.
Here, researchers controlled which holes had an active trigger to release a reward. The reward is a chocolate drop for human children, and peanuts for primates.
Initial phase
Participants are allowed to drop a ball into any section until they learnt that a ball can go in any hole, but only one will dispense a reward.
Now, the participants are taken about 2 meters away from the box. They watch three familiar conspecific peers (demonstrators) (”conspecific” means of the same species as the participant) demonstrate one by one.
All three demonstrators…
  • Dropped a ball into the same section, which is not the same section as the one that the participant learnt to use
  • Recieved one reward for that
  • Dropped another ball into the same section and recieved another reward.
Testing phase
Participants were then given three balls, one at a time, and could put each ball into any section they choose.
This time, all three sections dispenses rewards.
The choice is coded twice by two coders, as either
  • switch (switches to the majority’s choice)
  • stay (staying with their original choice)
  • other (niether the majority’s or their original choice)

Results

Participant
Switch
Stay
Other
Children
12
6
0
Chimpanzees
2
10
0
Orangutans
2
8
2

Conclusions

Children are more likely to adjust their behavior to that of their peers than the other two great-ape populations.
Human children conformed in over half of all instances, the two nonhuman great ape populations almost exclusively stayed with their individually acquired strategies.
 

Evaluation (AO3)

Quantitative— numerical— data is collected.
Two coders are used to record and categorize the participant’s choice.
A standardised procedure is used.
Application to real life.
The task is very artificial. (Use examples of primates acting differently in other circumstances!)
The ages of the participants are significantly different.
One weakness of the study is that the ages of the participants were significantly different. For example, the human children were 28 months old, the chimpanzees were 121 months old, and the orangutans were 102 months old. Age is a factor that might affect conformity, as the brain is more developed as the age increases. This is a weakness because the study lacks internal validity, as the independent variable (species) is not the only factor affecting the likelihood of the participants adjusting their behavior to fit the majority’s choice.
Captive primates were used.
Haun’s findings does not match real life.
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