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Identity concept learning in matching-to-sample tasks by tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella)

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Abstract

The abstract concept of equivalence is considered one of the bases of higher-order cognition, and it has been the subject of considerable research in comparative cognition. This study examined the conditions under which tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) are able to acquire an identity concept. Six capuchin monkeys were trained to solve a visual matching-to-sample (MTS) task on the basis of perceptual identity. The acquisition of the identity rule was inferred from the subject’s ability to solve transfer tests with novel stimuli. We evaluated the ability of the capuchin monkeys to match the shape of novel stimuli after training with both several small stimulus sets (Experiment 1) and a large stimulus set (Experiment 2). Moreover, we examined the ability of capuchins to transfer the concept to novel visual dimensions, such as colour and size and to transfer to novel spatial arrangements of the stimuli (Experiment 2). We demonstrated that the ability of capuchins to match novel stimuli was improved by increasing the number of stimuli used during training (Experiments 1 and 2) and that after a widely applicable identity concept based on the stimulus shape was acquired, the capuchins were able to match stimuli according to an identity rule based on both the colour and size of the stimuli and when the spatial arrangement of the stimuli was varied (Experiment 2). This study is the first to demonstrate that the size of the training set affects the acquisition of an abstract identity concept in an MTS task in non-human primates.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Massimiliano Caretti and Luigi Fidanza for technical help with the apparatus, Massimiliano Bianchi and Simone Cartarinacci for help with animal management, and Luigi Baciadonna for help with data collection. We acknowledge Olavo de Faria Galvão, Boicho Kokinov, Dorothy Fragaszy, and Giovanna Spinozzi for helpful suggestions. We are grateful to the editor and three anonymous reviewers for useful comments on the manuscript. We also wish to thank Joel Fagot and Sandro Bettella for valuable information and advices in carrying out E-prime programs for training animals. We thank the Fondazione Bioparco for hosting the Primate Centre where the experiments were carried out. The research protocol for this study was approved by the Italian Health Ministry (Central Direction for the Veterinary Service), and all procedures were performed in full accordance with the European law on humane care and use of laboratory animals. This research was supported by the EC-ANALOGY grant #29088 and by the EC-IM-CLeVeR grant #231722. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council (CNR), Via Ulisse Aldrovandi 16/B, 00197, Rome, Italy

    Valentina Truppa, Giulia Castorina, Francesco Natale & Elisabetta Visalberghi

  2. Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia 8, 35131, Padua, Italy

    Valentina Truppa

  3. University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5, 00185, Rome, Italy

    Duilio Garofoli & Eva Piano Mortari

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  1. Valentina Truppa
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  2. Duilio Garofoli
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  4. Eva Piano Mortari
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  6. Elisabetta Visalberghi
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Correspondence to Valentina Truppa.

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Truppa, V., Garofoli, D., Castorina, G. et al. Identity concept learning in matching-to-sample tasks by tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). Anim Cogn 13, 835–848 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-010-0332-y

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