Maternal behavior of primiparous rhesus monkeys: Effects of limited social restriction and inanimate environmental enrichment (1995)

Schapiro, S. J., Bloomsmith, M. A., Suarez, S. A. et al.

Abstract

Whereas these enhancements may lead to increased species-typical behavior under certain conditions, evidence from our program suggests that the types of inanimate enhancements we utilized have little effect on the behavior of group-housed rhesus. Our interpretation has been that the social enrichment achieved by living in a group provides many more relevant opportunities to express species-typical behaviors than does inanimate enrichment, and is thus more valuable. This view is neither unique to our studies nor to the group-housed situation. We suggest that the benefits of social opportunities eclipse the benefits of inanimate enrichment opportunities. Inanimate enrichment did not affect maternal behavior. This is strong evidence of the importance of social experience for the development of proper maternal behavior repertoires in rhesus monkeys.