The unique potential of field research to understand primate social learning and cognition

Studies of wild non-human primates have yielded groundbreaking insights into social learning and social cognition. These studies have the benefit of placing the animal within its natural social and broader environmental context, with factors such as group composition, dispersal, presence of predators, and environmental change offering unique study opportunities that are either challenging or impossible to replicate in captivity. Novel statistical techniques and technologies have recently facilitated studies into social learning in wild primates that would previously have been out of reach. Finally, the increasing use of controlled experiments with wild populations offers the possibility of generating findings directly comparable to those in captivity, that have the potential to highlight differences in the cognitive abilities of wild versus captive individuals.

Automated summary

Studies of wild non-human primates have provided groundbreaking insights into social learning and social cognition, taking advantage of their natural and diverse social and environmental contexts. Recent advances in statistical techniques and technologies have enabled studies of social learning in wild primates that were previously unattainable. Controlled experiments with wild populations also offer the opportunity to compare cognitive abilities between wild and captive individuals.