Cooperative Activities in Young Children and Chimpanzees

TLDR

Human children (18–24 months) and three young chimpanzees engaged in four cooperative tasks with a human partner who withdrew at a set point in each activity. The children succeeded in cooperative problem‑solving and social games and repeatedly attempted to reengage the withdrawing partner, whereas the chimpanzees showed no interest in the games or communicative attempts, supporting the view that shared intentionality is uniquely human and emerges in the second year of life.

Abstract

Human children 18–24 months of age and 3 young chimpanzees interacted in 4 cooperative activities with a human adult partner. The human children successfully participated in cooperative problem‐solving activities and social games, whereas the chimpanzees were uninterested in the social games. As an experimental manipulation, in each task the adult partner stopped participating at a specific point during the activity. All children produced at least one communicative attempt to reengage him, perhaps suggesting that they were trying to reinstate a shared goal. No chimpanzee ever made any communicative attempt to reengage the partner. These results are interpreted as evidence for a uniquely human form of cooperative activity involving shared intentionality that emerges in the second year of life.