Discrimination of complex visual stimuli in Cebus apella: Identity matching with pictures.

Abstract

Do capuchin monkeys respond to photos as icons? Do they discriminate photos of capuchin monkeys' faces? Looking for answers to these questions we trained three capuchin monkeys in simple and conditional discrimination tasks and tested the discriminations when comparison stimuli were partially covered. Three capuchin monkeys experienced in simultaneous simple discrimination and IDMTS were trained with repeated shifts of simple discriminations (RSSD), with four simultaneous choices, and IDMTS (1 s delay, 4 choices) with pictures of known capuchins monkeys' faces. All monkeys did discriminate the pictures in both procedures. Performances in probes with partial masks with one fourth of the stimulus hidden were consistent with baseline level. Errors occurred when a picture similar to the correct one was available among the comparison stimuli, when the covered part was the most distinct, or when pictures displayed the same monkey. Capuchin monkeys do match pictures of capuchin monkeys' faces to the sample. The monkeys treated different pictures of the same monkey as equivalent, suggesting that they respond to the pictures as icons, although this was not true to pictures of other monkeys. Subsequent studies may bring more evidence that capuchin monkeys treat pictures as depictions of real scenes.

Effective use of the blank comparison procedure in simple discrimination by infant capuchin monkeys: A methodological note

“…Our study showed greater efficiency as compared to those by Goulart et al (2005) and Galvão et al (2009). Fewer training sessions overall with a few trials without programmed reinforcement proved sufficient in effecting a clear BC demonstration of select and reject control in simple simultaneous discrimination.…”

Columban simulation project: Quando computadores foram substituídos por pombos

“…Partindo disso, o "teste de espelhos" tornou-se um procedimento utilizado para avaliar que animais reconheciam-se em espelho (cf. Galvão, Soares Filho, Neves Filho & Nagahama, 2009), e disso derivava-se a noção de que animais possuíam ou não uma noção de eu, de "self " (entretanto, supunha-se que apenas animais que tratavam o espelho como seu reflexo possuíam esta noção). No estudo original, novamente pouca atenção foi dada às variáveis históricas responsáveis por esses comportamentos em relação ao espelho.…”