近日，美国《国家科学院学报》网络版上报告说，日本一个研究小组发现黑猩猩不仅具有仅次于人类的智慧，还会做出“利他”行为，有能力理解伙伴所处的状况及根据需要提供帮助。不过，黑猩猩在伙伴没有提出要求的时候不会主动提供帮助。
京都大学灵长类研究所教授山本真也率领的研究小组将6只黑猩猩分成3组进行实验。他们准备了用透明板隔开的A、B两个小房间，并且在透明隔板上开了一个能够传递工具的孔。在A房间外放一个装了果汁的杯子，只有通过小房间墙壁的缝隙用吸管或者用拐杖把杯子扒拉过来，才能喝到里面的果汁。不过A房间里没有工具，而在B房间里放置了吸管、拐杖以及刷子、绳索等7种工具。
研究小组在两个房间里分别放进一只黑猩猩，每天进行2至4次试验，每组都进行了24次试验。结果发现，如果A房间的黑猩猩从两个房间之间透明隔板的孔中伸过手来要求B房间的黑猩猩提供帮助，B房间的黑猩猩就会根据隔壁房间的情形，分析需要什么工具，然后递过吸管或者拐杖。观察3组黑猩猩的行为，发现它们大部分时候能够正确选择工具。
但是如果两个小房间之间是不透明隔板，B房间的黑猩猩就不会做出准确选择。研究小组还发现，如果一只黑猩猩不请求帮助，另一只黑猩猩也不会“多管闲事”主动提供帮助。(生物谷 Bioon.com)
doi:10.1073/pnas.1108517109
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Chimpanzees’ flexible targeted helping based on an understanding of conspecifics’ goals
Shinya Yamamoto, Tatyana Humle, and Masayuki Tanaka
Humans extensively help others altruistically, which plays an important role in maintaining cooperative societies. Although some nonhuman animals are also capable of helping others altruistically, humans are considered unique in our voluntary helping and our variety of helping behaviors. Many still believe that this is because only humans can understand others’ goals due to our unique “theory of mind” abilities, especially shared intentionality. However, we know little of the cognitive mechanisms underlying helping in nonhuman animals, especially if and how they understand others’ goals. The present study provides the empirical evidence for flexible targeted helping depending on conspecifics’ needs in chimpanzees. The subjects of this study selected an appropriate tool from a random set of seven objects to transfer to a conspecific partner confronted with differing tool-use situations, indicating that they understood what their partner needed. This targeted helping, (i.e., selecting the appropriate tool to transfer), was observed only when the helpers could visually assess their partner's situation. If visual access was obstructed, the chimpanzees still tried to help their partner upon request, but failed to select and donate the appropriate tool needed by their partner. These results suggest that the limitation in chimpanzees’ voluntary helping is not necessarily due to failure in understanding others’ goals. Chimpanzees can understand conspecifics’ goals and demonstrate cognitively advanced targeted helping as long as they are able to visually evaluate their conspecifics’ predicament. However, they will seldom help others without direct request for help.
