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Updated: Jul 31, 2026

The Gateway to the Brain: Dissecting the Primate Eye
Published on: May 27, 2009
Global and local processing of hierarchical visual stimuli in tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella)
Giovanna Spinozzi1, Carlo De Lillo, Valentina Truppa
1Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Reparto di Psicologia Comparata, Rome, Italy. spinozzi@pml.it
Abstract:
Capuchin monkeys' (Cebas apella) relative accuracy in the processing of the global shape or the local features of hierarchical visual stimuli was assessed. Three experiments are presented featuring manipulations of the arrangement and the density of the local elements of the stimuli. The results showed a clear advantage for local level processing in this species, which is robust under manipulations of the density of the local elements of the stimuli. By contrast the density of the component elements linearly affected accuracy in global processing. These findings, which support those from other studies in which a local superiority emerged in animals, challenge the generality of early claims concerning the adaptive value of global advantage in the processing of hierarchical visual patterns.
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