refer to communicative signals as and when they arise in the course of describing
other things.
From the point of view of cognitive psychology, communication is not so much an
exchange of emotionally mediated calls, gestures and postures as a series of actions,
characteristic of the species and understood by other members of the species, that con-
vey particular meanings in the social context. Each individual exchanges communica-
tive signals with others and in so doing expresses meanings such as sexual interest or
aggressive intent or a wish to groom or be groomed (Chadwick-Jones 1998). De Waal
(1982) gave an excellent account of the complicated machinations of three adult male
chimpanzees in their struggle for dominance in the captive colony at Arnhem Zoo; this
account shifted emphasis from the communicative signals and their functions to the
underlying tactics and strategies of these three individuals in their interactions with each
other and with the group’s females over a lengthy period of time. What has become clear
in the last three decades of chimpanzee research is that these animals have evolved a
high degree of what can be called social intelligence, involving appeasement, deception
and counter-deception, alliance formation, reconciliation after conflicts and sympathetic
consolation for victims of aggression (De Waal 1982; Whiten and Byrne 1988). The
result is what I have termed a ‘thinking society’ (Reynolds 1986). Harré (1984) has
described the differences between such a society, based on the intentions, cognitive
plans and strategies of its members, and the polar opposite kind of society based on
largely automatic cause-and-effect processes. The danger of anthropomorphism result-
ing from the use of terms that have their origin in the description of human thoughts and
interactions has been well analysed by Asquith (1984) who points out the inevitability
of anthropomorphism in the description of non-human primate behaviour, especially in
the case of our closest relative the chimpanzee. With the publication of Goodall’s defin-
itive monograph on the Gombe chimpanzees (Goodall 1986), as well as her other works
and the many videos coming out of Gombe, it has become customary for primatologists
to use words such as ‘reconciliation’ for particular kinds of chimpanzee social behaviour
without fear of scientific inaccuracy. Quiatt (1984) has described the ‘devious inten-
tions’ of monkeys and apes and discussed what is involved in such a characterization of
behaviour. Quiatt and Reynolds (1993) have written at book length on the cognitive
basis of primate, and especially chimpanzee, society and linked it in with human social
evolution.
Grooming and other affiliative behaviours
Grooming, a strongly affiliative behaviour, occurs between mothers and their offspring
(see Fig. 6.1) and it is in that context that the infant learns to groom. Later, as a semi-
independent, and then as an independent individual, grooming is transferred to other
members of the community, siblings in particular. Between males, which stay in the
community (whereas females mostly move out at adolescence or early adulthood),
grooming continues right through life. Indeed, the closest and most intimate grooming
we see at Sonso occurs in close-contact huddles between adult males (Spini 1998).
110 Social behaviour and relationships