Varieties of altruism in children and chimpanzees.

Question 1

Author

Answer 1

Warneken, F. & Tomasello, M.

Question 2

Title

Answer 2

Varieties of altruism in children and chimpanzees.

Question 3

Primary research question

Answer 3

What are the similarities and differences in altruistic behaviors exhibited by human children and chimpanzees, and what do these reveal about the evolutionary origins of altruism?”

Question 4

Study Method

Answer 4

experiments with human children (18–24 months old) and chimpanzees to study three types of altruistic behaviors

tasks requiring them to assist an experimenter (e.g., retrieving out-of-reach objects), share resources (e.g., food), or provide useful information (e.g., pointing to hidden items).

Question 5

Results

Answer 5

Both children and chimpanzees demonstrated spontaneous helping behaviors

Children were more likely than chimpanzees to share resources voluntarily, even when sharing involved some cost to themselves.

Human children readily provided useful information (e.g., pointing to hidden items) to help others, while chimpanzees rarely exhibited this behavior.

Question 6

Three types of behaviours they looked at

Answer 6

helping, sharing, and informing