Just like humans, monkeys too show self-doubt
February 21st, 2011 - 11:53 am ICT by ANILondon, Feb 21 (ANI): Just like humans, monkeys too display self-doubt and uncertainty, according to US-based scientists.
They found that macaques trained to play computer games will ‘pass’ rather than risk choosing the wrong answer in a brainteaser task, reports the BBC.
Prof John David Smith from the State University of New York at Buffalo and Michael Beran from the Georgia State University, trained the macaques, which are Old World monkeys, to use a joystick-based computer game.
The animals were trained to judge the density of a pixel box that appeared at the top of the screen as either sparse or dense. To give their answer, the monkeys simply moved a cursor towards a letter S or a letter D.
When the animals chose the correct letter, they were rewarded with an edible treat. There was no punishment for choosing the wrong answer, but the game briefly paused, taking away - for a few seconds - the opportunity for the animals to win another treat.
But the monkeys had a third option - choosing a question mark - which skipped the trial and moved on to the next one. This meant no treat, but it also meant no pause in the game.
The researchers saw that the macaques used this option in exactly the same way as human participants who reported that they found a trial too tricky to answer - they chose to ‘pass’ and move on.
“Monkeys apparently appreciate when they are likely to make an error. They seem to know when they don’t know,” Smith told the BBC.
In the same trial, capuchins, which belong to the group known as New World monkeys, failed to take this third option.
“There is a big theoretical question at stake here: Did [this type of cognition] develop only once in one line of the primates - emerging only in the line of Old World primates leading to apes and humans?” explained Smith.
He said that the capacity think in this way was “one of the most important facets of humans’ reflective mind, central to every aspect of our comprehension and learning”.
“These results could help explain why self-awareness is such an important part of our cognitive makeup and from whence it came,” he added. (ANI)
- Monkeys recognise photos of their friends - Mar 18, 2011
- Monkeys become more calculating around money - Sep 22, 2010
- Like humans, monkeys too can recall what they've seen! - Apr 29, 2011
- Monkey jab may open way for HIV vaccine - May 12, 2011
- Primates better adapted to environmental changes - Dec 03, 2010
- Who's an expert nutcracker? Monkeys! - Dec 01, 2010
- Language makes humans smarter than chimps - Feb 08, 2011
- Brain tells you whether to stay or go while foraging - Jun 07, 2011
- Prejudice springs from ancient evolutionary roots - Mar 18, 2011
- Prejudice is a trait humans have retained from their evolutionary predecessors - Mar 18, 2011
- Old World monkeys have better numerical skills than previously thought - Mar 30, 2011
- Some animals can reflect upon, monitor, regulate their states of mind - Sep 15, 2009
- Just like humans, monkeys comfort each other post conflict - Aug 18, 2010
- Love hormone also fosters kindness among monkeys - Jan 06, 2012
- Primates more resilient than other animals to seasonal ups and downs - Dec 02, 2010
Tags: based computer, beran, capuchins, computer game, georgia state university, human participants, john david smith, london feb, macaques, new world monkeys, old world monkeys, prof john, question mark, reflective mind, self doubt, state university of new york, state university of new york at buffalo, theoretical question, world primates, wrong answer