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Helping others, an example of prosocial behavior, has historically been viewed as uniquely human. However, a recent study in capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) demonstrated that capuchins choose to help others when given the option of being prosocial (providing food to themselves and a partner) or being selfish (providing food to themselves only). Moreover, both the capuchin making the decision and their partner behaved differently according to whether a prosocial or selfish decision was made. In the current study, we extended these behavioral findings by asking whether capuchin monkeys modify their behavior according to the choice being made, the presence of reward inequity, and the opportunity for reciprocity. We hypothesized prosocial decisions would correlate with affiliative behaviors, such as mutual positive interest, and selfish choices would correlate with non-affiliative behaviors, such as aggression and distress. We analyzed the behavior of five pairs of female capuchin monkeys participating in an experiment using the same prosocial/selfish choice paradigm as the previous study. For each trial the occurrences of affiliative behaviors and agonistic behaviors were recorded. There were significantly more affiliative behaviors during trials where prosocial choices were made than when selfish choices were made. Furthermore, subjects were more likely to choose the prosocial token in trials following affiliative behavior. These results suggest that capuchin monkeys modify their behavior in response to prosocial choices and modify their choices in response to their partner’s behavior.
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