Orangutans base their food choices on whether others appear to be having a good time, research suggests.

Scientists studying captive orangutans have found that when the great apes heard the sound of their peers laughing before they searched a bowl for a tasty treat, they valued the reward more highly.

Erica Cartmill, a professor of anthropology and cognitive science at Indiana University and senior author of the work, said the study is part of a larger project exploring whether animals feel joy and what the implications of those emotions are in areas such as cognition and learning.

“One of our big motivations … is building on human research that shows that emotion has important effects on rational thought – and that they aren’t two separate things; they really influence one another,” she said.…