How the great apes (Pan troglodytes, Pongo pygmaeus, Pan paniscus, Gorilla gorilla) perform on the reversed reward contingency task II: Transfer to new quantities, long-term retention, and the impact of quantity ratios

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Uher, Jana ORCID: 0000-0003-2450-4943 and Call, Josep (2008) How the great apes (Pan troglodytes, Pongo pygmaeus, Pan paniscus, Gorilla gorilla) perform on the reversed reward contingency task II: Transfer to new quantities, long-term retention, and the impact of quantity ratios. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 122 (2). pp. 204-212. ISSN 0735-7036 (Print), 1939-2087 (Online) (doi:https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7036.122.2.204)

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7036.122.2.204

Abstract

We tested 6 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), 3 orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus), 4 bonobos (Pan paniscus), and 2 gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) in the reversed reward contingency task. Individuals were presented with pairs of quantities ranging between 0 and 6 food items. Prior to testing, some experienced apes had solved this task using 2 quantities while others were totally naïve. Experienced apes transferred their ability to multiple-novel pairs after 6 to 19 months had elapsed since their initial testing. Two out of 6 naïve apes (1 chimpanzee, 1 bonobo) solved the task--a proportion comparable to that of a previous study using 2 pairs of quantities. Their acquisition speed was also comparable to the successful subjects from that study. The ratio between quantities explained a large portion of the variance but affected naïve and experienced individuals differently. For smaller ratios, naïve individuals were well below 50% correct and experienced ones were well above 50%, yet both groups tended to converge toward 50% for larger ratios. Thus, some apes require no procedural modifications to overcome their strong bias for selecting the larger of 2 quantities.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Inhibition, Perseveration, Quantity discrimination, Relative numerousness, Reversal learning
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > School of Human Sciences (HUM)
Related URLs:	Organisation
Last Modified:	01 Dec 2017 10:34
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/18194

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