title: Group differences in the mutual gaze of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).
abstract: A comparative developmental framework was used to determine whether mutual gaze is unique to humans and, if not, whether common mechanisms support the development of mutual gaze in chimpanzees and humans. Mother-infant chimpanzees engaged in approximately 17 instances of mutual gaze per hour. Mutual gaze occurred in positive, nonagonistic contexts. Mother-infant chimpanzees at a Japanese center exhibited significantly more mutual gaze than those at a center in the United States. Cradling and motor stimulation varied across groups. Time spent cradling infants was inversely related to mutual gaze. It is suggested that in primates, mutual engagement is supported via an interchangeability of tactile and visual modalities. The importance of mutual gaze is best understood within a perspective that embraces both cross-species and cross-cultural data.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Centre for the Study of Emotion, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, United Kingdom. kim.bard@port.ac.uk
authors.forename: Kim A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Bard
authors.forename: Masako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Myowa-Yamakoshi
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tomonaga
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Costall
authors.forename: Tetsuro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsuzawa
mesh_terms: D000378:Agonistic Behavior; D000819:Animal Communication; D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D009048:Motor Skills; D002679:Pan troglodytes / Q000523:psychology*; D012919:Social Behavior; D012931:Social Environment; D013045:Species Specificity; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014110:Touch; D014796:Visual Perception