Evolutionary origins of money categorization and exchange: an experimental investigation in tufted capuchin monkeys (Sapajus spp.)

Francesca de Petrillo, Martina Caroli, Emanuele Gori, Antonia Micucci, Serena Gastaldi, Sacha Bourgeois-Gironde and Elsa Addessi
Additional contact information
Francesca de Petrillo: IAST - Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse
Martina Caroli: Département des sciences économiques - UNIBO - Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna = University of Bologna
Emanuele Gori: UNIBO - Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna = University of Bologna
Antonia Micucci: UNIBO - Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna = University of Bologna
Serena Gastaldi: Unknown
Elsa Addessi: Unknown

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: Money is a cultural artefact with a central role in human society. Here, we investigated whether some features of money may be traced back to the exchange habits of nonhuman animals, capitalizing on their ability to flexibly use tokens in dif-ferent domains. In Experiment 1, we evaluated whether capuchins can recognize token validity. Six subjects were required to exchange with the experimenter valid/familiar tokens, valid/unfamiliar tokens, invalid tokens, and no-value items. They first exchanged a similar number of valid/familiar and valid/unfamiliar tokens, followed by exchanges of invalid tokens and no-value items. Thus, as humans, capuchins readily recognized token validity, regardless of familiarity. In Experiment 2, we further evaluated the flexibility of the token–food association by assessing whether capuchins could engage in reverse food–token exchanges. Subjects spontaneously performed chains of exchanges, in which a food item was exchanged for a token, and then the token was exchanged for another food. However, performance was better as the advantage gained from the exchange increased. Overall, capuchins recognized token validity and successfully engaged in chains of reverse and direct exchanges. This suggests that—although nonhuman animals are far from having fully-fledged monetary systems—for capuchins tokens share at least some features with human money.

Date: 2019-03
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published in Animal Cognition, 2019, vol. 22 (n° 2), pp.169-186

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02952946

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().