Matching-to-Sample as a Model of Symbolic Behavior for Bio-behavioral Investigations

Galvão, Olavo de Faria; Filho, Paulo S. D. Soares; Barros, Romariz da Silva; Souza, Carlos Barbosa Alves de

doi:10.1515/revneuro.2008.19.2-3.149

Cited by 12 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…To obtain the reward, in the former task capuchins had to follow an identity rule to choose which of two comparison figures resembled most closely a stimulus presented as sample, whereas in the latter task capuchins had to simply touch a stimulus which appeared on the screen. Learning to solve Identity Matching-to-Sample tasks according to an identity rule could be a challenging problem for non-human species ( Wright et al, 1988 ; Wright, 1997 , 2001 ; Galvão et al, 2005 , 2008 ; Bodily et al, 2008 , for a review see Katz et al, 2007 ). Specifically, our monkeys underwent a long training protocol before they succeeded in generalization tests in which they succeeded in learning to solve the task in a way that extended beyond the training stimuli, thus demonstrating to rely on relational learning processes rather than on item-specific learning ( Truppa et al, 2010 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-control depletion in tufted capuchin monkeys (Sapajus spp.): does delay of gratification rely on a limited resource?

et al. 2015

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Self-control failure has enormous personal and societal consequences. One of the most debated models explaining why self-control breaks down is the Strength Model, according to which self-control depends on a limited resource. Either previous acts of self-control or taking part in highly demanding cognitive tasks have been shown to reduce self-control, possibly due to a reduction in blood glucose levels. However, several studies yielded negative findings, and recent meta-analyses questioned the robustness of the depletion effect in humans. We investigated, for the first time, whether the Strength Model applies to a non-human primate species, the tufted capuchin monkey. We tested five capuchins in a self-control task (the Accumulation task) in which food items were accumulated within individual’s reach for as long as the subject refrained from taking them. We evaluated whether capuchins’ performance decreases: (i) when tested before receiving their daily meal rather than after consuming it (Energy Depletion Experiment), and (ii) after being tested in two tasks with different levels of cognitive complexity (Cognitive Depletion Experiment). We also tested, in both experiments, how implementing self-control in each trial of the Accumulation task affected this capacity within each session and/or across consecutive sessions. Repeated acts of self-control in each trial of the Accumulation task progressively reduced this capacity within each session, as predicted by the Strength Model. However, neither experiencing a reduction in energy level nor taking part in a highly demanding cognitive task decreased performance in the subsequent Accumulation task. Thus, whereas capuchins seem to be vulnerable to within-session depletion effects, to other extents our findings are in line with the growing body of studies that failed to find a depletion effect in humans. Methodological issues potentially affecting the lack of depletion effects in capuchins are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-control depletion in tufted capuchin monkeys (Sapajus spp.): does delay of gratification rely on a limited resource?

et al. 2015

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“…Among the procedures that may achieve this are three-choice MTS and the elimination of correlations between stimulus position and stimulus location (Barros, Galvão & McIlvane, 2002;Galvão et al, 2008).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The goal of the present study was to evaluate a procedure to assess the property of symmetry in capuchin monkeys by combining elements of the procedures reported by D'Amato et al and Velasco et al The present study was part of a research program entitled Experimental School for Primates, which is dedicated to developing stimulus control procedures and evaluating the relational capabilities of capuchin monkeys (see Barros, Galvão, & McIlvane, 2002;Galvão, Soares Filho, Barros, & Souza, 2008).…”

Section: Assessing Symmetry In Capuchin Monkeysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing Symmetry by Comparing the Acquisition of Symmetric and Nonsymmetric Conditional Relations in a Capuchin Monkey

Filho

Silva

Velasco³

et al. 2016

Int. j. psychol. res.

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Article history: Received: 15-04-2016 Revised: 29-06-2016 Accepted: 12-08-2016 Key words: conditional discrimination; equivalence class formation; symmetry; Sapajus sppThe present study presents a procedure to assess the property of symmetry by comparing the acquisition of conditional relations that are consistent and inconsistent with this property in a capuchin monkey (Sapajus spp.). One young male monkey underwent arbitrary matching-to-sample training. The experiment had four phases: Phase 1.1 (establishing A1B1 and A2B2 relations), Phase 1.2 (reinforcing B1A1 and B2A2 relations, consistent with the property of symmetry), Phase 2.1 (establishing A3B3 and A4B4 relations), and Phase 2.2 (reinforcing B3A4 and B4A3 relations, inconsistent with the property of symmetry). A comparison between Phase 1.2 (consistent) and Phase 2.2 (inconsistent) showed faster acquisition of consistent relations (B1A1 and B2A2) than inconsistent relations (B3A4 and B4A3). The results suggest that the established conditional discriminations may have the property of symmetry and confirm the potential of comparative analysis between the acquisition of conditional discriminations as a promising procedure to evaluate equivalence class formation in nonhuman subjects.

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“…However, matching relations within that procedure are necessary but not sufficient to define symbolic functioning (Galvão, Soares Filho, Barros, & Souza, 2008). With nonhumans, matching repertoires typically comprise a small number of stimulus-stimulus relations (cf.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cebus cf. apella exhibits rapid acquisition of complex stimulus relations and emergent performance by exclusion.

Brino¹,

Assumpção²,

Campos³

et al. 2010

Psychology & Neuroscience

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A "second generation" matching-to-sample procedure that minimizes past sources of artifacts involves (1) successive discrimination between sample stimuli, (2) stimulus displays ranging from four to 16 comparisons, (3) variable stimulus locations to avoid unwanted stimulus-location control, and (4) high accuracy levels (e.g., 90% correct on a 16-choice task in which chance accuracy is 6%). Examples of behavioral engineering with experienced capuchin monkeys included four-choice matching problems with video images of monkeys with substantially above-chance matching in a single session and 90% matching within six sessions. Exclusion performance was demonstrated by interspersing non-identical sample-comparison pairs within a baseline of a nine-comparison identity-matching-to-sample procedure with pictures as stimuli. The test for exclusion presented the newly "mapped" stimulus in a situation in which exclusion was not possible. Degradation of matching between physically non-identical forms occurred while baseline identity accuracy was sustained at high levels, thus confirming that Cebus cf. apella is capable of exclusion. Additionally, exclusion performance when baseline matching relations involved non-identical stimuli was shown.

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Matching-to-Sample as a Model of Symbolic Behavior for Bio-behavioral Investigations

Cited by 12 publications

References 14 publications

Self-control depletion in tufted capuchin monkeys (Sapajus spp.): does delay of gratification rely on a limited resource?

Self-control depletion in tufted capuchin monkeys (Sapajus spp.): does delay of gratification rely on a limited resource?

Assessing Symmetry by Comparing the Acquisition of Symmetric and Nonsymmetric Conditional Relations in a Capuchin Monkey

Cebus cf. apella exhibits rapid acquisition of complex stimulus relations and emergent performance by exclusion.

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