Impaired Performance From Brief Social Isolation of Rhesus Monkeys (Macaca mulatta ): A Multiple Video-Task Assessment

Social isolation has been demonstrated to produce profound and lasting psychological effects in young primates. In the present investigation, two adult rhesus monkeys ( Macaca mulatta ) were isolated from one another for up to 6 days and tested on 7 video tasks designed to assess psychomotor and cog...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of comparative psychology (1983) 1991-06, Vol.105 (2), p.145-151
Main Authors: Washburn, David A, Rumbaugh, Duane M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal
Animals
Attention
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive Ability
Discrimination Learning
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Life Sciences (General)
Macaca mulatta - psychology
Male
Memory, Short-Term
Monkeys
Monkeys & apes
Pattern Recognition, Visual
Perceptual Motor Processes
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychomotor Performance
Social Isolation
Social research
Space life sciences
Transfer (Psychology)
Video Recording - instrumentation
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Summary:Social isolation has been demonstrated to produce profound and lasting psychological effects in young primates. In the present investigation, two adult rhesus monkeys ( Macaca mulatta ) were isolated from one another for up to 6 days and tested on 7 video tasks designed to assess psychomotor and cognitive functioning. Both the number and the quality (i.e., speed and accuracy) of responses were significantly compromised in the social isolation condition relative to levels in which the animals were tested together. It is argued that adult rhesus are susceptible to performance disruption by even relatively brief social isolation, and that these effects can best be assessed by a battery of complex and sensitive measures.
ISSN:0735-7036
1939-2087
DOI:10.1037/0735-7036.105.2.145