在一项关于倭黑猩猩的社会和情绪能力的发育的研究中，科研人员报告说，母亲和后代之间的联系可能起到了一个关键的作用。此前的研究已经提示，诸如表达同情和对其他人的痛苦做出响应的社会技能与人类的情绪控制有正相关性。Zanna Clay 和 Frans de Waal研究了我们的灵长类近亲倭黑猩猩（Pan paniscus）的社会和情绪能力的发育。这组作者研究了刚果民主共和国的一个森林保护区内的一组幼年倭黑猩猩的一系列社会技能，包括这些猿通过竞赛维持社会互动的技能、克服自我悲伤、以及通过触摸、拍打、吻和拥抱等安慰行为安慰痛苦的同伴。尽管其中一些倭黑猩猩是在这个保护区出生并且由母亲抚养的，大多数倭黑猩猩是从非法丛林肉食狩猎和宠物贸易中被解救出来的孤儿而来到这个保护区的，并且使用了替代的人类母亲在这个保护区进行了康复。这组作者报告说，幼年倭黑猩猩在应对自身的痛苦方面更加有效，例如，这是由它们输掉一场战斗之后尖叫的频率和长度确定的，而且它们也比其他倭黑猩猩更擅长安慰其它倭黑猩猩由冲突引发的痛苦。这组作者报告说，此外，由母亲抚养的倭黑猩猩的这类安慰行为比孤儿更常见，这提示母亲和后代的联系在塑造社会-情绪能力方面的重要性；母亲抚养的倭黑猩猩也能更快地从自身痛苦中恢复，而且社会能力更强，比孤儿的焦虑程度更低。这组作者说，这些发现有助于阐明倭黑猩猩的社会和情绪发育（生物谷Bioon.com）。
生物谷推荐的英文摘要
Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences of the United States of America doi: 10.1073/pnas.1316449110
Development of socio-emotional competence in bonobos
Zanna Clay1 and Frans B. M. de Waal1
Social and emotional skills are tightly interlinked in human development， and both are negatively impacted by disrupted social development. The same interplay between social and emotional skills， including expressions of empathy， has received scant attention in other primates however， despite the growing interest in caring， friendships， and the fitness benefits of social skills. Here we examine the development of socio-emotional competence in juvenile bonobos (Pan paniscus) at a sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of the Congo， focusing on the interplay between various skills， including empathy-related responding. Most subjects were rehabilitated orphans， but some were born at the sanctuary and mother-reared there. We observed how juveniles with different rearing backgrounds responded to stressful events， both when the stress affected themselves (e.g.， a lost fight) or others (e.g.， witnessing the distress of others). The main dependent variable was the consolation of distressed parties by means of calming body contact. As in children， consolation was predicted by overall social competence and effective emotion regulation， as reflected in the speed of recovery from self-distress and behavioral measures of anxiety. Juveniles more effective at self-regulation were more likely to console others in distress， and such behavior was more typical of mother-reared juveniles than orphans. These results highlight the interplay between the development of social and emotional skills in our ape relatives and the importance of the mother–offspring bond in shaping socio-emotional competence.
