A Study of the Mother-Infant Relationships of Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) during the First Four Years of Infancy in Tama Zoological Park

Abstract

Studied the development of mother-infant relationships in 4 chimpanzee mother-infant pairs in a zoological park. Each mother-infant pair was observed for 30 min once a week. Data show that the process of the chimpanzee infant's development of attachment resembled closely that of humans from the preattachment-phase to a goal-corrected partnership. Chimpanzee infants (aged 3-4 yrs) seemed to have some conflict with their mother, because ambivalent behavior occurred at that time. Such ambivalent behavior patterns toward the mother are often observed in human infants. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)