Study finds similarities between chimpanzee and human communication

The researchers used video footage of chimpanzees interacting with each other, isolating instances of chimpanzee communication and collecting data on which chimpanzees initiated the exchange and how the chimps responded to each other with gestures and other behaviors. In all, the researchers looked at more than 8,500 gestures from 252 chimpanzees.

In analyzing the “conversational” patterns, the researchers found that 14 percent of all interactions involved a gesture exchange between the interacting chimpanzees. The vast majority of gestural interactions (83 percent) involved a two-part gesture-for-gesture exchange. The chimpanzee response timing was similar to that of humans, but it took longer for the animals to respond to gestures with other behaviors.

“We saw little variation between different chimpanzee communities, which again matches what we see in humans where there are subtle cultural differences in conversational pace: some cultures have slower or faster talkers,” says Gal Badihi, the paper’s first author and a research fellow at the University of St Andrews, in a news article. launch.

Although the timing varied slightly from one community to another, the researchers write that the similarities to human conversation suggest “shared mechanisms” between humans and chimpanzees. They add that turn-taking in conversation may have evolved to strengthen social bonds and align both parties in the exchange.

The researchers call for future research on conversational patterns in other animals in an attempt to understand why and how such norms evolved.