Abstract
Cotton top tamarins were tested in visible and invisible displacement tasks in a method similar to that used elsewhere to test squirrel monkeys and orangutans. All subjects performed at levels significantly above chance on visible (n=8) and invisible (n=7) displacements, wherein the tasks included tests of the perseverance error, tests of memory in double and triple displacements, and "catch" trials that tested for the use of the experimenter's hand as a cue for the correct cup. Performance on all nine tasks was significantly higher than chance level selection of cups, and tasks using visible displacements generated more accurate performance than tasks using invisible displacements. Performance was not accounted for by a practice effect based on exposure to successive tasks. Results suggest that tamarins possess stage 6 object permanence capabilities, and that in a situation involving brief exposure to tasks and foraging opportunities, tracking objects' movements and responding more flexibly are abilities expressed readily by the tamarins.
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Notes
The switch from task 1 to task 2 was made to occur within one session, so that the tendency to repeat the prior visited location would be salient. If a session was ended at the end of task 1, the next session began with three trials of task 1 before task 2 was initiated.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Charles Snowdon, PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison, for the generous gift of animals to Carleton College, to Carleton College, and to the Howard Hughes Medical Institute for its support of this project, and to the editor and the anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments. The experiment reported herein complies with the standards for care and research in the United States, as described by USDA and PHS, and was approved by the College's institutional animal care and use committee.
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Neiworth, J.J., Steinmark, E., Basile, B.M. et al. A test of object permanence in a new-world monkey species, cotton top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus). Anim Cogn 6, 27–37 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-003-0162-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-003-0162-2