Beran Michael J, Smith J David, Redford Joshua S, Washburn David A
Language Research Center, Georgia State University, Atlanta, 30302, USA.
J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process. 2006 Apr;32(2):111-9. doi: 10.1037/0097-7403.32.2.111.
Two rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) judged arrays of dots on a computer screen as having more or fewer dots than a center value that was never presented in trials. After learning a center value, monkeys were given an uncertainty response that let them decline to make the numerosity judgment on that trial. Across center values (3-7), errors occurred most often for sets adjacent in numerosity to the center value. The monkeys also used the uncertainty response most frequently on these difficult trials. A 2nd experiment showed that monkeys' responses reflected numerical magnitude and not the surface-area illumination of the displays. This research shows that monkeys' uncertainty-monitoring capacity extends to the domain of numerical cognition. It also shows monkeys' use of the purest uncertainty response possible, uncontaminated by any secondary motivator.
两只恒河猴（猕猴）在电脑屏幕上判断点阵的点数是多于还是少于一个在试验中从未出现过的中心值。在学习了一个中心值后，猴子会得到一个不确定性反应选项，使它们可以选择在该试验中不做出数量判断。在不同的中心值（3 - 7）下，与中心值在数量上相邻的集合出现错误的情况最为频繁。猴子在这些困难试验中也最频繁地使用不确定性反应选项。第二个实验表明，猴子的反应反映的是数字大小，而非显示屏的表面积光照情况。这项研究表明，猴子的不确定性监测能力扩展到了数字认知领域。它还表明猴子使用了可能是最纯粹的不确定性反应，没有受到任何次要动机的影响。
