Marmosets Able To Learn Just By Watching Video

Brazilian wild marmosets have never watched a movie or seen a television show in their jungle homes until very recently. A scientist showed a group of wild marmosets a short flick of one of their compatriots opening a box in order to eat a slice of banana. The study found that wild marmosets were likely to mimic the behaviour they saw in the video and open the box themselves.

The study offers some insight into how these monkeys from the new world learn from one another in the wild says Dr. Tina Gunhold of the University of Vienna. Dr Gunhold said it was the first time the monkeys were tested using such a challenging task. Usually the tasks are quite easy, however the more difficult the task is, the more important social learning becomes.

Marmosets Can Socially Learn

Marmosets are social creatures living in small family groups that can number as many as 15. They also live in clearly defined home ranges. Marmosets are also fiercely territorial and may fight one another if one group ends up encroaching on the home range of another group. The whole marmoset group will help rear a new infant and this type of social learning passes on important information such as what foods to eat and how to recognise threats such as wildcats, birds and snakes,

However learning from a video is another lesson entirely. It has been proven that certain types of monkeys in captivity can learn just by watching their peers in a video. Dr. Gunhold was testing to see whether wild marmosets could also learn the same way. The researchers built a clear box that held a treat such as a tasty banana. Bananas in particular are a favourite food of the marmoset. The only way the marmoset could reach the fruit was either by pushing the lid upwards or opening a drawer which was quite difficult. The researchers gave the monkeys some help and showed them videos of other marmosets opening the box.

Not All Marmosets Saw The Video

Of the 12 family groups tested, six simply watched a still image of a female monkey opening the drawer or pushing up the lid of the box. The other six groups saw a 5 minute video of other marmosets opening the box. The study found that the marmosets who watched the video tended to interact more with the box and were able to open it more often than those marmosets who just saw the images. Just 13 per cent of all marmosets were able to open the box. The study found that the monkeys who watched the video used the same technique as the monkey in the video to open the box.

Researchers say this demonstrated the importance of the monkey receiving a video demonstration and added that it was possible that those that were successful really were learning from the video because the task was really hard.