Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/Cooperative pulling paradigm

Cooperative pulling paradigm

 * This is the archived discussion of the TFAR nomination for the article below. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests). Please do not modify this page. 

The result was: scheduled for Today's featured article/July 26, 2018 by Jimfbleak - talk to me?  06:08, 18 June 2018 (UTC)



The cooperative pulling paradigm is an experimental design in which two or more animals pull rewards towards themselves via an apparatus that they can not successfully operate alone. The type of apparatus used in cooperative pulling experiments can vary. Researcher Meredith Crawford, who invented the experimental paradigm in 1937, used a mechanism consisting of two ropes attached to a rolling platform that was too heavy to be pulled by a single chimpanzee. The standard apparatus is one in which a single rope is threaded through loops on a movable platform. If only one participant pulls the string, it comes loose and the platform can no longer be retrieved. Although many animals successfully retrieve rewards in their cooperative pulling tasks, the conclusions regarding cooperation are mixed and complex. Chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, capuchins, tamarins, wolves, elephants, ravens, and keas appear to understand the requirements of the task. For example, in a delay condition, the first animal has access to the apparatus before the other. If the animal waits for its partner before pulling, this suggests an understanding of cooperation. The superior scale and range of human cooperation comes mainly from the ability to use language to exchange social information.
 * Most recent similar article(s): none
 * Main editors: edwininlondon
 * Promoted: May 13, 2018
 * Reasons for nomination: First ever study was published in August 1937, so August would be fitting
 * Support as nominator. Edwininlondon (talk) 07:22, 16 June 2018 (UTC)