samedifferent concept learning by capuchin monkeys in matching-to-sample tasks卷尾猴samedifferent概念学习的取样匹配任务.pdfVIP

Same/Different Concept Learning by Capuchin Monkeys in Matching-to-Sample Tasks Valentina Truppa1,2*, Eva Piano Mortari1,3, Duilio Garofoli1,3, Sara Privitera1,3, Elisabetta Visalberghi1 1 Unit of Cognitive Primatology and Primate Center, Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council (CNR), Rome, Italy, 2 Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy, 3 University ‘La Sapienza’, Rome, Italy Abstract The ability to understand similarities and analogies is a fundamental aspect of human advanced cognition. Although subject of considerable research in comparative cognition, the extent to which nonhuman species are capable of analogical reasoning is still debated. This study examined the conditions under which tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) acquire a same/different concept in a matching-to-sample task on the basis of relational similarity among multi-item stimuli. We evaluated (i) the ability of five capuchin monkeys to learn the same/different concept on the basis of the number of items composing the stimuli and (ii) the ability to match novel stimuli after training with both several small stimulus sets and a large stimulus set. We found the first evidence of same/different relational matching-to-sample abilities in a New World monkey and demonstrated that the ability to match novel stimuli is within the capacity of this species. Therefore, analogical reasoning can emerge in monkeys under specific training conditions. Citation: Truppa V, Piano Mortari E, Garofoli D, Privitera S, Visalberghi E (2011) Same/Different Concept Learning by Capuchin Monkeys in Matching-to-Sample Tasks. PLoS ONE 6(8): e23809. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0023809 Editor: Laurie Santos, Yale University, United States of America Received May 26, 2011; Accepted July 25, 2011; Published August 16, 2011 Copyright: 2011 Truppa et al