title: Metacognition in monkeys during an oculomotor task.
abstract: This study investigated whether rhesus monkeys show evidence of metacognition in a reduced, visual oculomotor task that is particularly suitable for use in fMRI and electrophysiology. The 2-stage task involved punctate visual stimulation and saccadic eye movement responses. In each trial, monkeys made a decision and then made a bet. To earn maximum reward, they had to monitor their decision and use that information to bet advantageously. Two monkeys learned to base their bets on their decisions within a few weeks. We implemented an operational definition of metacognitive behavior that relied on trial-by-trial analyses and signal detection theory. Both monkeys exhibited metacognition according to these quantitative criteria. Neither external visual cues nor potential reaction time cues explained the betting behavior; the animals seemed to rely exclusively on internal traces of their decisions. We documented the learning process of one monkey. During a 10-session transition phase, betting switched from random to a decision-based strategy. The results reinforce previous findings of metacognitive ability in monkeys and may facilitate the neurophysiological investigation of metacognitive functions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Center for Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA. pgm7@pitt.edu
authors.forename: Paul G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Middlebrooks
authors.forename: Marc A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Sommer
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000502:physiology; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology; D008253:Macaca mulatta / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012438:Saccades / Q000502:physiology*; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013997:Time Factors