Rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) select Arabic numerals or visual quantities corresponding to a number of sequentially completed maze trials

Abstract

Four number-trained rhesus monkeys were trained to enumerate their sequential responses. After completing a series of computerized maze trials, the monkeys were given a same/different discrimination involving a numerical stimulus (an Arabic numeral or a visual quantity) and the letter D. The goal was to choose the numerical stimulus if it matched the number of just-completed maze trials, and to choose the letter D if it did not. There were large individual differences in performance, but one animal performed above 70% when receiving randomly intermixed series of 1, 3, 5, and 9 maze trials. This indicates that the monkey was keeping track of the approximate number of maze trials completed in each series and using that numerical cue to respond during the same/different discrimination. Copyright 2007 Psychonomic Society, Inc.