Journal Articles

1. Warneken, F; Chen, F; Tomasello, M, Cooperative activities in young children and chimpanzees., Child development, vol. 77 no. 3 (May, 2006), pp. 640-663 [doi].
   (last updated on 2026/01/17)

   Abstract:
   Human children 18-24 months of age and 3 young chimpanzees interacted in 4 cooperative activities with a human adult partner. The human children successfully participated in cooperative problem-solving activities and social games, whereas the chimpanzees were uninterested in the social games. As an experimental manipulation, in each task the adult partner stopped participating at a specific point during the activity. All children produced at least one communicative attempt to reengage him, perhaps suggesting that they were trying to reinstate a shared goal. No chimpanzee ever made any communicative attempt to reengage the partner. These results are interpreted as evidence for a uniquely human form of cooperative activity involving shared intentionality that emerges in the second year of life.