ABSTRACT
The conceptual and the practical issues associated with parenting in nonhuman primates in general and with maternal competence in chimpanzees specifically are addressed in this chapter. What does it take to be a good parent if you are a primate? How can we characterize the ontogeny of maternal and paternal skills? Are there biological bases in primate parenting? What are the learning mechanisms involved in parenting in primates? It seems evident that there are specific behaviors that must be learned in order to be a competent parent; however, the learning mechanisms remain unknown. It is unclear whether behavior patterns must be learned through actual practice or whether other mechanisms, such as observational learning, are equally effective. In addition, the influence of early experience on maternal capability remains an unknown factor. These central questions of parenting in primates have been asked for the past 30 years and still have not been satisfactorily answered (e.g., Rogers and Davenport, 1970).
