Determining the Value of Social Companionship to Captive Tufted Capuchin Monkeys (Cebus apella)

This study used a method similar to one introduced by Dawkins in 1990 to assess the magnitude of the psychological need for social companionship in pair-housed tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). This method permits classification of commodities as necessities or luxuries. The study directly compared the commodity of social companionship to the commodity of food, a known physiological necessity, in a series of preference tests following commodity deprivations. The majority of subjects chose their social companion over food at baseline and persisted in this preference even after several hours of food deprivation. In addition, subjects’ preferences shifted from 1 commodity to the other with manipulation of social and food deprivation levels. Capuchin monkeys perceived social companionship as a necessity at a level similar to that of food.