University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
Anim Cogn. 2012 Mar;15(2):187-99. doi: 10.1007/s10071-011-0445-y. Epub 2011 Sep 11.
Putative metacognition data in animals may be explained by non-metacognition models (e.g., stimulus generalization). The primary objective of the present study was to develop a new method for testing metacognition in animals that may yield data that can be explained by metacognition but not by non-metacognition models. Next, we used the new method with rats. Rats were first presented with a brief noise duration which they would subsequently classify as short or long. Rats were sometimes forced to take an immediate duration test, forced to repeat the same duration, or had the choice to take the test or repeat the duration. Metacognition, but not an alternative non-metacognition model, predicts that accuracy on difficult durations is higher when subjects are forced to repeat the stimulus compared to trials in which the subject chose to repeat the stimulus, a pattern observed in our data. Simulation of a non-metacognition model suggests that this part of the data from rats is consistent with metacognition, but other aspects of the data are not consistent with metacognition. The current results call into question previous findings suggesting that rats have metacognitive abilities. Although a mixed pattern of data does not support metacognition in rats, we believe the introduction of the method may be valuable for testing with other species to help evaluate the comparative case for metacognition.
动物的假定元认知数据可能可以用非元认知模型（例如，刺激泛化）来解释。本研究的主要目的是开发一种新的动物元认知测试方法，该方法产生的数据可以用元认知来解释，而不能用非元认知模型来解释。接下来，我们用新方法对大鼠进行了测试。大鼠首先接触一段短暂的噪声时长，随后将其归类为短或长。大鼠有时会被迫立即进行时长测试，被迫重复相同的时长，或者可以选择进行测试或重复时长。元认知，但不是替代的非元认知模型，预测在难度较大的时长下，当被试被迫重复刺激时，准确性会更高，而在被试选择重复刺激的情况下，准确性会更低，这一模式在我们的数据中得到了观察。对非元认知模型的模拟表明，大鼠数据的这一部分与元认知一致，但数据的其他方面与元认知不一致。目前的结果对先前的发现提出了质疑，即大鼠具有元认知能力。虽然数据的混合模式不支持大鼠的元认知，但我们认为引入该方法可能对其他物种的测试有价值，有助于评估元认知的比较案例。
