Task preparation in macaque monkeys ( Macaca mulatta).
We investigated whether macaque monkeys possess the ability to prepare abstract tasks in advance. We trained two monkeys to use different stimulus-response (S-R) mappings. On each trial, monkeys were first informed with a visual cue which of two S-R mapping to use. Following a delay, a visual target was presented to which they would respond with a left or right button-press. We manipulated delay time between cue and target and found that performance was faster and more accurate with longer delays, suggesting that monkeys used the delay time to prepare each task in advance.
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S Euclid Ave., Box 8108, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA. stoet@pcg.wustl.edu
Gijsbert
G
Stoet
Lawrence H
LH
Snyder
D000818:Animals; D003071:Cognition; D003214:Conditioning, Classical; D008253:Macaca mulatta / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D011930:Reaction Time; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014796:Visual Perception