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
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 |
|---|---|
| Official URL: | http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/com/ |
| Additional Information: | © 2008 American Psychological Association |
| Divisions: | Psychological and Behavioural Science |
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology Q Science > QL Zoology |
| Date Deposited: | 18 Sep 2015 11:15 |
| Last Modified: | 11 Dec 2024 23:27 |
| URI: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/63631 |
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