Two chimpanzees were trained to select among 2 different amounts of candy (1-6 items). The task was designed so that selection of either array by the active (selector) chimpanzee resulted in that array being given to the passive (observer) animal, with the remaining (nonselected) array going to the selector. Neither animal was able to select consistently the smaller array, which would reap the larger reward. Rather, both animals preferentially selected the larger array, thereby receiving the smaller number of reinforcers. When Arabic numerals were substituted for the food arrays, however, the selector animal evidenced more optimal performance, immediately selecting the smaller numeral and thus receiving the larger reward. These findings suggest that a basic predisposition to respond to the perceptualmotivational features of incentive stimuli can interfere with task performance and that this interference can be overridden when abstract symbols serve as choice stimuli. Evaluation of numerical capabilities in animals in recent years has expanded the range of skills previously demonstrated in nonhuman species, provoked new questions regarding possible processing mechanisms that might subserve these capacities, and encouraged new directions for research (Boysen & Capaldi, 1993; Thomas & Lorden, 1993). Findings from our laboratory have indicated that the chimpanzee is an apt subject for the study of numerical competence and, with appropriate training, can demonstrate facility with counting, basic summation abilities, symbolically mediated summation, and an understanding of

A chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), trained to count foods and objects by using Arabic numbers, demonstrated the ability to sum arrays of 0-4 food items placed in 2 of 3 possible sites. To address representational use of numbers, we next baited sites with Arabic numbers as stimuli. In both cases performance was significantly above chance from the first sessions, which suggests that without explicit training in combining arrays, the animal was able to select the correct arithmetic sum for arrays of foods or Arabic numbers under novel test conditions. These findings demonstrate that counting strategies and the representational use of numbers lie within the cognitive domain of the chimpanzee and compare favorably with the spontaneous use of addition algorithms demonstrated in preschool children.Sensitivity to specific quantities has been demonstrated in a wide range of species, including rats,

Five chimpanzees with training in counting and numerical skills selected between 2 arrays of different amounts of candy or 2 Arabic numerals. A reversed reinforcement contingency was in effect, in which the selected array was removed and the subject received the nonselected candies (or the number of candies represented by the nonselected Arabic numeral). Animals were unable to maximize reward by selecting the smaller array when candies were used as array elements. When Arabic numerals were substituted for the candy arrays, all animals showed an immediate shift to a more optimal response strategy of selecting the smaller numeral, thereby receiving the larger reward. Results suggest that a response disposition to the high-incentive candy stimuli introduced a powerful interference effect on performance, which was effectively overridden by the use of symbolic representations. There is little question that chimpanzees represent an extant species with cognitive capabilities often reminiscent of human reasoning abilities and conceptual skills (e.g.

The visual perspective-taking ability of 4 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) was investigated. The subjects chose between information about the location of hidden food provided by 2 experimenters who randomly alternated between two roles (the guesser and the knower). The knower baited 1 of 4 obscured cups so that the subjects could watch the process but could not see which of the cups contained the reward. The guesser waited outside the room until the food was hidden. Finally, the knower pointed to the correct cup while the guesser pointed to an incorrect one. The chimpanzees quickly learned to respond to the knower. They also showed transfer to a novel variation of the task, in which the guesser remained inside the room and covered his head while the knower stood next to him and watched a third experimenter bait the cups. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that chimpanzees are capable of modeling the visual perspectives of others.

A rational strategy for the automated detection of artifacts in heart period data is outlined and evaluated. The specific implementation of this approach for heart period data is based on the distribution characteristics of successive heart period differences. Because beat-to-beat differences generated by artifacts are large, relative to normal heart period variability, extreme differences between successive heart periods serve to identify potential artifacts. Critical to this approach are: 1) the derivation of the artifact criterion from the distribution of beat differences of the individual subject, and 2) the use of percentile-based distribution indexes, which are less sensitive to corruption by the presence of artifactual values than are least-squares estimates. The artifact algorithms were able to effectively identify artifactual beats embedded in heart period records, flagging each of the 1494 simulated and actual artifacts in data sets derived from both humans and chimpanzees. At the same time, the artifact algorithms yielded a false alarm rate of less than 0.3%. Although the present implementation was restricted to heart period data, the outlined approach to artifact detection may also be applicable to other biological signals.