Abstract
Game-like computer tasks offer many benefits for psychological research. In this paper, the usefulness of such tasks to bridge population differences (e.g., age, intelligence, species) is discussed and illustrated. A task called ALVIN was used to assess humans’ and monkeys’ working memory for sequences of colors with or without tones. Humans repeated longer lists than did the monkeys, and only humans benefited when the visual stimuli were accompanied by auditory cues. However, the monkeys did recall sequences at levels comparable to those reported elsewhere for children. Comparison of similarities and differences between the species is possible because the two groups were tested with exactly the same game-like paradigm.
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This research was supported in part by Grant NAG2-438 from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to Georgia State University, and by Army Research Office Grant DAAL03-92-G-0382 to the Morris Brown College Center of Excellence for Research on Training. The authors thank Duane M. Rumbaugh and the students in Introduction to Learning for their contributions to this research, and Herb Terrace for his comments on portions of the Discussion.
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Washburn, D.A., Gulledge, J.P. Game-like tasks for comparative research: Leveling the playing field. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers 27, 235–238 (1995). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03204738
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03204738