Failure to find over-imitation in captive orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus): Implications for our understanding of cross-generation information transfer

A growing body of research has documented the strong tendency of young human children to copy, with high fidelity, the actions of adults. This tendency is characterized by children focusing on the means adults use to bring about a specific outcome rather than the end outcome of those actions. Known as over-imitation', this behavior, with its inherent means-over-ends nature, is argued to be fundamental to the sustenance and transfer of human cultural ideas. To date, no study has found over-imitation in any non-human animal. Here, we report on the results of testing conducted with 4 captive orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus). Though these animals showed signs of social learning they failed to engage in behavior that approximated over-imitation and failed to show a capacity for acquiring novel skills with anything like the capacity seen in young human children. The implications of these findings are discussed with reference to the evolution of human cultural cognition and the ways in which we transmit information across generations