Jane Goodall

We're unique, yes.

But not as different as we used to think.

Well, I think it was.

I mean, I consciously thought that what I'd learned from watching the chimpanzee mothers was very appropriate for raising a human child.

I think one of the things that I've learned that's really significant in relation to raising human children is

is that there are very different kinds of mothering in the wild.

We find good mothers and bad mothers.

And the good mother will be attentive, protective, tolerant, playful, affectionate, and above all, supportive.

And the mother who is on the poorer end of the scale tends to be rather harsh or cold in her treatment of the baby, to be less supportive, less affectionate, less tolerant, and much less playful.

And it does seem that these maternal characteristics, along with the kind of family into which the infant is born, in other words, the whole early experience, has a tremendous influence on the type of chimpanzee that infant will become.

And we find that those with the good supportive mothers tend to be assertive, successful mothers.

They have relaxed relationships with other adults, whereas those that have the colder, less supportive mothers tend to grow up being rather nervous, finding it difficult to relate well to other adults, and usually being rather low-ranking on the dominant scale.

So if this early experience is so important for chimps, is it perhaps also for humans?

And I believe that it is, and I think there's a growing body of scientific data to suggest that that's so.

Yeah.

And I also spent, you know, for the first three years, I basically was with him all the time.

And people have said, oh, well, you were so lucky you could do your research and stay with your child.

But in fact, because I made this conscious decision to spend time with him because I felt it was important.

That meant that I actually stopped following the chimps.

I just occasionally walked up to look at them, but then I'd go back and spend time with my son.