Discrimination of complex visual stimuli in Cebus apella: identity matching with pictures

Do capuchin monkeys respond to photos as icons? Do they discriminate photos of capuchin monkeys' faces? Looking for answers to these questions we trained three capuchin monkeys in simple and conditional discrimination tasks and tested the discriminations when comparison stimuli were partially covered. Three capuchin monkeys experienced in simultaneous simple discrimination and IDMTS were trained with repeated shifts of simple discriminations (RSSD), with four simultaneous choices, and IDMTS (1 s delay, 4 choices) with pictures of known capuchins monkeys' faces. All monkeys did discriminate the pictures in both procedures. Performances in probes with partial masks with one fourth of the stimulus hidden were consistent with baseline level. Errors occurred when a picture similar to the correct one was available among the comparison stimuli, when the covered part was the most distinct, or when pictures displayed the same monkey. Capuchin monkeys do match pictures of capuchin monkeys' faces to the sample. The monkeys treated different pictures of the same monkey as equivalent, suggesting that they respond to the pictures as icons, although this was not true to pictures of other monkeys. Subsequent studies may bring more evidence that capuchin monkeys treat pictures as depictions of real scenes

Experimental school for primates: analysis of the consistency between assumptions and empirical practices

The development of animal models for the study of problems in human cognitive development requires, as a main factor, the existence of behavioral processes homology in repertories of the model and the humans. The Experimental School for Primates (ESP) has used the capuchin monkey (Cebus spp.) as an animal model to investigate the acquisition of generalized relational repertoires in humans. This study evaluated the empirical studies of the ESP in order to verify the consistency between their theoretical and empirical practices, especially the assumption of homology of behavioral processes among capuchin monkeys and humans. When analyzing a) the origin of the objectives and procedures of the studies (most come from animal studies), 2) if the expected results were achieved or not (in general, positive results in relation to the proposed objectives) and 3) if in studies of ESP the issue of animal model and/or applicability of the procedures used in studies to humans is discussed (it is not), it was noted that there are no empirical data supporting the homology proposal in theoretical proposition of the ESP. These results demonstrate that the scientific practice of ESP has advanced as basic research on the learning of generalized relational repertoires in capuchin monkeys, however, without providing transfer to study this phenomenon in humans. It is suggested that the way forward may be: 1) develop empirical studies that validate the homology of behavioral processes among some repertoires of human and capuchin monkeys, and 2) start implementing the findings of basic research of ESP in developing procedures for teaching relational repertoires for people with delayed cognitive development.CNPq - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e TecnológicoO desenvolvimento de modelos animais para o estudo de problemas no desenvolvimento cognitivo humano pressupõe como fator principal a existência de certa homologia de processos comportamentais entre os repertórios do modelo e dos humanos. A Escola Experimental de Primatas (EEP) tem utilizado o macaco-prego (Cebus ssp.) como um modelo animal para investigar a aquisição de repertórios relacionais generalizados em humanos. Este trabalho avaliou os estudos empíricos da EEP no sentido de verificar a coerência entre seus pressupostos teóricos e sua prática empírica, especialmente no que diz respeito à existência de homologias de processos comportamentais entre macacos-prego e seres humanos. Ao se analisar a 1) origem dos objetivos e dos procedimentos dos estudos (a maioria provém de estudos com animais); 2) se os resultados esperados foram alcançados ou não (de forma geral, resultados positivos em relação aos objetivos propostos); e 3) se nos estudos da EEP é discutida a questão do modelo animal e/ou a aplicabilidade dos procedimentos utilizados nos estudos para humanos (não é), verificou-se que não são apresentados dados empíricos que sustentem a homologia sugerida na proposta teórica norteadora da EEP. Esses resultados demonstram que a prática científica da EEP tem avançado enquanto pesquisa básica sobre a aprendizagem de repertórios relacionais generalizados para macacosprego, mas ainda sem evidências de transferência para o estudo desse fenômeno em humanos. Sugere-se que o caminho a seguir pode ser: 1) desenvolver estudos empíricos que validem a homologia de processos comportamentais entre alguns repertórios dos macacos-prego e humanos; e 2) dar início à aplicação dos achados da pesquisa básica da EEP no desenvolvimento de procedimentos para ensinar repertórios relacionais para pessoas com atraso no desenvolvimento cognitivo