Integrative Approaches to Cognition, Behavior, and Physiology in Semi-Free-Ranging Chimpanzees

How do the cognitive and physiological traits of individuals translate into real-world group dynamics? There is an empirical and theoretical gap between understanding individual-level processes driving behavior, and the group-level outcomes of these processes. In this talk, I will present an overview of my group’s work in African ape sanctuaries aimed at bridging this divide. African sanctuaries have become a new focus of research on primate behavior, cognition, and health. Primates living in African sanctuaries are typically wild-born and semi-free-range in species-appropriate habitats as part of large social groups with variation in age and sex, but are also familiar with humans to a degree not possible in wild populations. This combination of naturalistic ecological and social contexts, where controlled interventions are also possible, makes these primate populations well-positioned to bridge traditional research approaches that focus either on experimental manipulations with captive animals, or observational approaches of behavior in the wild. I will present an overview of our work using an integrative approach to examine the cognition, behavior, and health of chimpanzees, one of human’s closest living relatives and a key model system for understanding the biological origins of human behavior. This work hinges on strong reciprocal interactions with wild field work focused on long-term observational research, to synthesize the strengths of both approaches. Finally, I will discuss how collaborations between sanctuary researchers and field researchers can build a new research program to understand how complex behavior emerges across different contexts.

Learning Objectives:

1. Explain why research with chimpanzees is relevant for understanding human cognition, behavior, and health.

2. Review the experimental methods to characterize individual and developmental differences in decision-making and cognitive control in non-human animals.

3. Infer why lab-living chimpanzees might have different patterns of health compared to wild or semi-free-ranging sanctuary chimpanzees.