NOVELTY LEARNING SETS IN RHESUS MONKEYS,
Abstract
Thirty-three rhesus monkeys--7 normal, 13 given low-dose radiation, and 13 given high-dose radiation--were presented with 12 object-quality discrimination problems each day for 16 days. Four trials were allowed on each problem. Each problem involved one new or novel stimulus and one stimulus which had appeared in the preceding problem. Half the time, the stimulus brought forward had been positive (rewarded) and half the time negative (nonrewarded) in the preceding problem. In each problem, the new or novel stimulus was made positive (rewarded) and the stimulus retained from the preceding problem, regardless of previous sign, became negative. The monkeys attained significant first-trial solution of the successive problems. Previous exposure to whole-body radiation did not produce significant differences in performance in this experiment. A significantly greater likelihood of error resulted when the positive stimulus was retained with reversed sign than when the negative stimulus was retained without reversed sign. The relative difficulty of the positive-brought-forward with reversal and the negative-brought-forward without reversal was found to depend on the degree of training. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 1968
- Accession Number
- AD0681073
Entities
People
- H. C. Blodgett
- John E. Overall
- W. Lynn Brown
Organizations
- University of Texas at Austin