Inference by Exclusion in Lion-Tailed Macaques (Macaca silenus), a Hamadryas Baboon (Papio hamadryas), Capuchins (Sapajus apella), and Squirrel Monkeys (Saimiri sciureus)

Previous research has suggested that several primate species may be capable of reasoning by exclusion based on the finding that they can locate a hidden object when given information about where the object is not. The present research replicated and extended the literature by testing 2 Old World mon...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of comparative psychology (1983) 2015-08, Vol.129 (3), p.256-267
Main Authors: Marsh, Heidi L., Vining, Alexander Q., Levendoski, Emma K., Judge, Peter G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal
Animal Cognition
Animal Social Behavior
Baboons
Choice Behavior
Ears & hearing
Eyes & eyesight
Inference
Information processing
Monkeys
Monkeys & apes
Performance evaluation
Reasoning
Sensory perception
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Summary:Previous research has suggested that several primate species may be capable of reasoning by exclusion based on the finding that they can locate a hidden object when given information about where the object is not. The present research replicated and extended the literature by testing 2 Old World monkey species, lion-tailed macaques (Macaca silenus) and a hamadryas baboon (Papio hamadryas), and 2 New World species, capuchin monkeys (Sapajus apella) and squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus). The New World monkeys were tested on the traditional 2-way object choice task, and all 4 species were also tested on a more complex 3-way object choice task. In addition, the squirrel monkeys were tested on a 2-way object choice task with auditory information. The results showed that, whereas the Old World species were able to infer by exclusion on the 3-object task, some of the capuchin monkeys had difficulty on each of the 2- and 3-cup tasks. All but 1 of the squirrel monkeys failed to infer successfully, and their strategies appeared to differ between the visual and auditory versions of the task. Taken together, this research suggests that the ability to succeed on this inference task may be present throughout Old World monkey species, but is fragile in the New World species tested thus far.
ISSN:0735-7036
1939-2087
DOI:10.1037/a0039316