Learning ability and retention performance of a weanling squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus).

The visual discrimination and delayed-response tests and the test of conditioned-avoidance response were adapted and administered to a weanling squirrel monkey to determine its learning ability and retention performance. The data show that the weanling learned to perform all the tests successfully, indicating that the tractable squirrel monkey is a potentially satisfactory animal model for a comparative and developmental study of learning ability and retention performance during the early stages of life.