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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 15, 2026

Testing for Metacognitive Responding Using an Odor-based Delayed Match-to-Sample Test in Rats

Testing for Metacognitive Responding Using an Odor-based Delayed Match-to-Sample Test in Rats

Published on: June 18, 2018

Do orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) know when they do not remember?

Chikako Suda-King¹

¹Think Tank at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park, Animal Programs Office, Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20008-2598, USA. chimpkako@hotmail.com

Animal Cognition

|April 18, 2007

Summary

Five orangutans demonstrated metacognition by opting out of memory tests when uncertain. This suggests some apes can discern when they don't know the correct answer, even with minimal training.

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Last Updated: Jul 15, 2026

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Published on: July 8, 2025

Area of Science:

Cognitive Science
Animal Behavior
Primatology

Background:

Metacognition, the ability to monitor and control one's cognition, is increasingly being investigated in non-human animals.
Previous research often required extensive training for animals to exhibit metacognitive responses.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether orangutans can exhibit metacognitive control over their memory in a spatial task with limited training.
To determine if orangutans can detect their own uncertainty regarding the location of a hidden reward.

Main Methods:

Five orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) participated in a spatial memory task involving a hidden preferred reward.
An "escape response" option offered a less preferred but guaranteed reward, allowing subjects to avoid the memory test.
Experimental conditions manipulated reward visibility and location consistency to probe metacognitive judgments.

Main Results:

Orangutans significantly increased their use of the escape response when reward hiding was not visible or when locations were switched.
One orangutan successfully used the escape response proactively, avoiding a test she was likely to fail.
These results indicate a metacognitive ability in orangutans to assess memory accuracy.

Conclusions:

Orangutans exhibit metacognitive awareness, specifically the ability to detect uncertainty in their memory.
This study provides evidence for metacognition in a non-human primate with a reduced training paradigm.
Findings contribute to understanding the evolution of cognitive monitoring abilities across species.