The study examines the token exchange paradigm in a population of long-tailed macaques in Bali, Indonesia, providing insights into the cognitive underpinnings of economic behaviour in non-human primates, and suggests that this population may be the first example of a culturally maintained token economy in free-ranging animals.
The token exchange paradigm shows that monkeys and great apes are able to use objects as symbolic tools to request specific food rewards
Around the Uluwatu Temple in Bali, Indonesia, a large free-ranging population of long-tailed macaques spontaneously and routinely engage in token-mediated bartering interactions with humans. These interactions occur in two phases: after stealing inedible and more or less valuable objects from humans, the macaques appear to use them as tokens, by returning them to humans in exchange for food
The study examines the token exchange paradigm in a population of long-tailed macaques in Bali, Indonesia, providing insights into the cognitive underpinnings of economic behaviour in non-human primates, and suggests that this population may be the first example of a culturally maintained token economy in free-ranging animals.
The key findings of the study include age differences in robbing/bartering success, indicative of experiential learning, and clear behavioural associations between value-based token possession and quantity or quality of food rewards rejected and accepted by subadult and adult monkeys.
The token exchange paradigm shows that monkeys and great apes are able to use objects as symbolic tools to request specific food rewards
Around the Uluwatu Temple in Bali, Indonesia, a large free-ranging population of long-tailed macaques spontaneously and routinely engage in token-mediated bartering interactions with humans. These interactions occur in two phases: after stealing inedible and more or less valuable objects from humans, the macaques appear to use them as tokens, by returning them to humans in exchange for food
The objective of the study is to provide a more ecologically valid primate model of trading systems in humans by examining the token exchange paradigm in a free-ranging population of long-tailed macaques.
The study uses field observational and experimental data to examine the token-mediated bartering interactions between the long-tailed macaques and humans.
The results of the study show that the long-tailed macaques are able to use objects as symbolic tools to request specific food rewards, and that there are age differences in robbing/bartering success and clear behavioural associations between value-based token possession and food rewards.
The study concludes that the population of long-tailed macaques in Bali, Indonesia, may be the first example of a culturally maintained token economy in free-ranging animals, and that this population provides insights into the cognitive underpinnings of economic behaviour in non-human primates.
The study does not explicitly mention any limitations, but it notes that laboratory-based experimental situations tend to have limited ecological validity.
The study does not explicitly mention any future work, but it is part of a theme issue on the existence and prevalence of economic behaviours among non-human primates, suggesting that further research in this area is needed.
The study has practical applications for understanding the cognitive underpinnings of economic behaviour in non-human primates, and for developing more ecologically valid models of trading systems in humans.
The token exchange paradigm shows that monkeys