Discrimination by Rhesus Monkeys of Patterns with Asymmetrically Placed Cues

Although psychologists agree that it is desirable to control experimental stimuli with precision, they usually employ extremely heterogeneous stimuli (perhaps not without reason) in studies of the discrimination learning of monkeys. A fortunate exception is found in the use of bi-dimensional (pattern) stimuli in several different laboratories. These stimuli are generally constructed by glueing pieces of paper (cues), of prescribed shapes, sizes, and colors, on 3-in. by 3-in. posterboard squares. It has been established that patterns are harder to learn than stereometric objects, thar absolute size of the stimulus is a relatively unimportant parameter, and that accuracy is a function of size of cue relative to toral surface area, at least up to 7576 of the area (Harlow, 1951; Warren, 1953). Several investigations have been concerned primarily with posirion or size of cue. Riopelle, Wunderlich, and Francisco (1958) reported thac the more peripheral the differentially colored ring, in stimuli composed of concentric rings, the more efficient was performance. In an earlier study with posterboard patterns, Warren (1953) showed thac a colored border was more discriminable than was a vertically placed colored rectangle which extended to the near and far edges and that the latter was more discriminable than a centrally placed colored square, when all three types of cue were equated in surface area. An ingenious technical innovation has been described by Schrier and Harlow ( 1957 ) . In one phase of their study they used posterboard cards glued to the surface of a test tray and colored paper cues which were centered (not glued) on the cards. When a monkey moved a cue rhe foodwell was exposed through a hole in the middle of the card. Schrier and Harlow reported that accuracy was nearly as great in this condition as when movable cards with 100% colored surface were used. A few low-level hypotheses about the cue-size effect have been advanced. Originally, Harlow (1951 ) suggested that ease of learning depended on the perimetric extent of the cue. Later Schrier and Harlow (1957) argued that performance may be facilitated by spatial and temporal contiguity between the food-reward and relevant cue at the instant the foodwell is exposed

Developmental psychology · Color perception and design · Communication · Psychology · Social Psychology

• Reinforcement Procedure and Cue Location in Pattern Discriminations of Monkeys

  Open Access•Elizabeth Lynn, Robert W Leary•Psychological Reports•1962

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• Reinforcement Procedure and Cue Location in Pattern Discriminations of Monkeys

  Open Access•Elizabeth Lynn, Robert W Leary•Psychological Reports•1962

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