A reversed-reward contingency task reveals causal knowledge in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Albiach-Serrano, Anna; Call, Josep

doi:10.1007/s10071-014-0749-9

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The picture condition might have been confusing for the apes given that there was no causal connection between the orientation of the picture and the location of the food. This may have turned the task into a reverse contingency task, which is notoriously difficult for apes (e.g., Albiach-Serrano and Call 2014; Boysen and Berntson 1995; Vlamings et al 2006). Frustration induced by such a counterintuitive task may have masked apes’ performance in the subsequent mirror condition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intuitive optics: what great apes infer from mirrors and shadows

Völter

Call

2018

Anim Cogn

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There is ongoing debate about the extent to which nonhuman animals, like humans, can go beyond first-order perceptual information to abstract structural information from their environment. To provide more empirical evidence regarding this question, we examined what type of information great apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, and orangutans) gain from optical effects such as shadows and mirror images. In an initial experiment, we investigated whether apes would use mirror images and shadows to locate hidden food. We found that all examined ape species used these cues to find the food. Follow-up experiments showed that apes neither confused these optical effects with the food rewards nor did they merely associate cues with food. First, naïve chimpanzees used the shadow of the hidden food to locate it but they did not learn within the same number of trials to use a perceptually similar rubber patch as indicator of the hidden food reward. Second, apes made use of the mirror images to estimate the distance of the hidden food from their own body. Depending on the distance, apes either pointed into the direction of the food or tried to access the hidden food directly. Third, apes showed some sensitivity to the geometrical relation between mirror orientation and mirrored objects when searching hidden food. Fourth, apes tended to interpret mirror images and pictures of these mirror images differently depending on their prior knowledge. Together, these findings suggest that apes are sensitive to the optical relation between mirror images and shadows and their physical referents.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s10071-018-1184-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intuitive optics: what great apes infer from mirrors and shadows

Völter

Call

2018

Anim Cogn

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“…The RRC task allows researchers to examine whether animals will reverse their learning, and it might be used as a measure of inhibitory control (Albaich-Serrano & Call, 2014). That is, after giving the subject a recent history of responding in a specific way, the RRC task allows researchers to examine whether the subject will perform incongruently with that history once a change in environmental contingencies is enacted.…”

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confidence: 99%

Any reward will do: Effects of a reverse-reward contingency on size preference with pet dogs (Canis lupus familiaris)

et al. 2018

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The reverse-reward contingency (RRC) task involves presenting subjects with a choice between one plate containing a large amount of food and a second plate containing a small amount of food. Subjects are then required to select the smaller of the two options in order to receive the larger-magnitude reward. The RRC task is a commonly used paradigm for assessing complex cognition, such as inhibitory control, in subjects. To date, the RRC task has not been tested with pet dogs as subjects, and it may provide insights to their ability to perceive quantities of differing magnitudes. Nine dogs were tested in an RRC task involving three conditions. In Condition 1, plates of food were presented, and the dogs were allowed to consume their choice. In Condition 2, plates with different-sized symbols resembling the quantities of food in Condition 1 were presented, and dogs received food quantities of the same size as their choice (e.g., a larger-magnitude reward for selecting the plate with the larger shape). In Condition 3, the same plates were presented, but dogs received a reverse-sized quantity of food, relative to their choice (e.g., a smaller-magnitude reward for selecting the plate with the larger shape). A novel addition here to the traditional RRC task was the inclusion of a third, empty (control) plate that was present throughout all conditions, and no programmed consequences were provided when that plate was selected. Our results were consistent with the previous RRC literature: All dogs developed and maintained a preference for the larger stimulus option across conditions. The use of symbolic representations did not ameliorate performance on the RRC task. Applied implications are discussed.

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Intuitive probabilistic inference in capuchin monkeys

et al. 2016

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The ability to reason about probabilities has ecological relevance for many species. Recent research has shown that both preverbal infants and non-human great apes can make predictions about single-item samples randomly drawn from populations by reasoning about proportions. To further explore the evolutionary origins of this ability, we conducted the first investigation of probabilistic inference in a monkey species (capuchins; Sapajus spp.). Across four experiments, capuchins (N = 19) were presented with two populations of food items that differed in their relative distribution of preferred and non-preferred items, such that one population was more likely to yield a preferred item. In each trial, capuchins had to select between hidden single-item samples randomly drawn from each population. In Experiment 1 each population was homogeneous so reasoning about proportions was not required; Experiments 2-3 replicated previous probabilistic reasoning research with infants and apes; and Experiment 4 was a novel condition untested in other species, providing an important extension to previous work. Results revealed that at least some capuchins were able to make probabilistic inferences via reasoning about proportions as opposed to simpler quantity heuristics. Performance was relatively poor in Experiment 4, so the possibility remains that capuchins may use quantity-based heuristics in some situations, though further work is required to confirm this. Interestingly, performance was not at ceiling in Experiment 1, which did not involve reasoning about proportions, but did involve sampling. This suggests that the sampling task posed demands in addition to reasoning about proportions, possibly related to inhibitory control, working memory, and/or knowledge of object permanence.

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A reversed-reward contingency task reveals causal knowledge in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Cited by 5 publications

References 28 publications

Intuitive optics: what great apes infer from mirrors and shadows

Intuitive optics: what great apes infer from mirrors and shadows

Any reward will do: Effects of a reverse-reward contingency on size preference with pet dogs (Canis lupus familiaris)

Intuitive probabilistic inference in capuchin monkeys

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