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Cited by 256Primate Behavior and EcologyChild and Animal Learning DevelopmentAction Observation and Synchronization

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 20 of the 21 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Comprehension of role reversal in chimpanzees: evidence of empathy?

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Povinelli, Daniel J., Nelson, Kurt E., Boysen, Sarah T.·1992·Animal Behaviour
DOI 10.1016/s0003-3472(05)81022-x
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Abstract

Four chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes, were individually trained to cooperate with a human partner on a task that allowed both participants to obtain food rewards. In each chimpanzee-human dyad, one of the participants (the informant) could see which pair of food trays on a four-choice apparatus was baited, but had no means of obtaining it. The other participant (the operator) could pull one of four handles to bring a pair of the trays within reach of both participants, but could not see which choice was correct. Two of the chimpanzees were initially trained as informants and adopted spontaneous gestures to indicate the location of the food. The two other chimpanzees were trained as operators and learned to respond to the pointing of their human partner. After the chimpanzee subjects reached near perfect performance, the roles in each chimpanzee-human dyad were reversed. Three of the four chimpanzees showed immediate evidence of comprehension of their new social role. The results are discussed in the context of cognitive empathy and the potential for future research on social attribution in non-human primates.

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Menzel, 1974, A group of young chimpanzees in a one-acre field, Vol. 5, 83
  2. Sarbin, 1954, Tole theory, Vol. 1, 223

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Metadata

Authors
Povinelli, D. J., Nelson, K. E., & Boysen, S. T.
Affiliations
  • Yale University (US)
  • Emory University (US)
ORCID
Povinelli, Daniel J.
Venue
Animal Behaviour
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
1992-04
Volume
43
Issue
4
Pages
633-640
ISSN
0003-3472 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/s0003-3472(05)81022-x
OpenAlex
W1980877469
Cited by
256
References
21
Citations by year
2025: 1 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 7
FWCI
35.72
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Animal Behaviour (publishedVersion)
  • Animal Behaviour (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • WBI Studies Repository (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation
  • Ohio State University
  • National Institute of Mental Health
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Primate Behavior and Ecology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
Keywords
chimpanzees, role reversal, cognitive empathy, social cognition, social attribution, pointing, joint action, non-human primates

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Comprehension of role reversal in chimpanzees: evidence of empathy? https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1016/s0003-3472(05)81022-x
The paper
Povinelli, D. J., Nelson, K. E., & Boysen, S. T. (1992). Comprehension of role reversal in chimpanzees: evidence of empathy? Animal Behaviour. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0003-3472(05)81022-x

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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).

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