Format for Working Outline-

Social Network Analysis Shows Direct Evidence for Social Transmission of Tool
Use in Wild Chimpanzees
Isabel Wagner
I.

Introduction
A. Background information about the subject
1. It has always been a curiosity if animals network their social structures
similar to the way humans do. Chimpanzees have been a huge animal
of study since their actions are most alike to humans. The major
question in animal behavior is if they learn it individually or social
learning. All of this information further leads us to conclusions that
have already been made that chimpanzees are a great ancestor of
humans and apes.
2. The researchers chose this subject because there has already been
many studies on chimpanzees and their actions. They thought that it
would be interesting to see how chimpanzees acquire the knowledge to
use the tools they have learned to use. It is fascinating how all animals
learn to do things on their own, the researches wanted to expand on
this and see how so chimpanzees have such a dynamic brain such as
the human race.
B. Why did the scientists do this research?
1. The researchers are trying to gather information about whether the
spread of behaviors in an animal group are learned individually or
through social transmission. They hypothesize that most of the
interactions in nature will be from social transmission.
2. This is a topic of value because this information can help us better
understand the animal kingdom. It further leads us in to the brains of
chimpanzees and gives more insight to how smart animals can be in
the ways they figure out how to survive.
C. The researches hypothesis that novel behavior in a chimpanzee group does not
spread socially additionally that similar learning mechanisms are at work in
humans and animals. The bigger picture they are trying to see is if chimpanzees
are a human ancestor.

Hint: This is usually in the last paragraph of the Introduction section.

II.

Materials and Methods

A. To test their hypothesis they went to different chimpanzee communities and
watched the way each of them did a process called leaf-sponging. This

technique is defined as chewing leaves in their mouths and then subsequently

using them in water sources to drink. In November 2011 members of the
chimpanzee community visited a sponging site. The researches watched them for
6 days and noticed some of the chimpanzees developed two behavioral features
known as leaf sponge reuse and moss sponging.

B. What techniques did they use? (What measurements did they make?)
1. The tools the researchers used were observing and making tables to compare
the amount of chimpanzees who has seen someone else do the action and
copying it compared to a chimp who had thought of it on his own.
We apply this model to studying the spread of two novel tool-use variants, mosssponging and leaf-sponge re-use, in the Sonso chimpanzee community of Budongo
Forest, Uganda. (Page 1)
III.

IV.

Results
A. In conclusion they found that the alpha male would think of the idea by himself
and act upon it. After that they found that most of the other chimpanzees who had
come to the watering hole after that had seen the alpha male do this action first
and they copied him. In the first test group there was one female who had not
seen the alpha male do this action who had thought of it all by herself. In the
other group there were 4 chimpanzees who had thought to do this themselves.
They figures about 14.9% of the chimps showed individual learning whereas
84.5% was social transmission.
B. The scientists were surprised to find out this information. They believed that the
chimps would be very individually driven and there would be more behavioral
diversity.
Discussion
A. What did the results mean?
1. The information supported their hypothesis that some of the interactions in
nature are due to social transmission. However, it helped them learn more
about social learningspecifically who sees the initial behavior at what time
and from who.
2. The researches believe that they need to do more research on the hierarchy of
the chimpanzee kingdom. To see why exactly the first initiator will think of
something, how he gets his title, and why people follow him.
B. The limitations to the study were that they should have studied a larger
population to get enough information exactly about the hierarchy and the way
things work.

Bibliography:

Hobaiter, Catherine, and Tomothee Poisot. "Social Network Analysis

Shows Direct Evidence for Social Transmission of Tool Use in Wild
Chimpanzees." Plos Biology, 30 Sept. 2014. Web.