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Can lemurs (Eulemur fulvus and E. macaco) use abstract representations of quantities to master the reverse-reward
Emilie Genty1, Jean-Jacques Roeder
1Centre de Primatologie de l'Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France.
Primates; Journal of Primatology
|March 12, 2011
Summary
Lemurs demonstrated self-control by choosing smaller food amounts for larger rewards. One lemur abstracted this skill to graphic representations, showing advanced quantity discrimination and ordering abilities.
Area of Science:
- Primate cognition
- Animal behavior
- Comparative psychology
Background:
- Previous studies showed brown and black lemurs (Eulemur fulvus and E. macaco) possess self-control.
- Lemurs could select smaller food quantities for larger rewards and generalize this to quality differences.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if lemurs can apply self-control and quantity discrimination to abstract graphic representations.
- To assess the lemurs' ability to understand and manipulate symbolic representations of food quantities.
Main Methods:
- Subjects previously trained in reverse-reward contingency tasks were presented with graphic representations of food quantities.
- Lemurs had to choose between two graphic representations under a reverse-reward contingency.
Main Results:
- Three of four lemurs associated graphic representations with corresponding food quantities.
- One lemur consistently chose the smaller quantity's representation to receive the larger reward, demonstrating abstraction and numerical skills.
- This subject discriminated and ordered quantities based on symbolic representations.
Conclusions:
- Primates may mentally represent food quantities symbolically.
- Self-control is a crucial component of foraging strategies in primates.
- The study highlights advanced cognitive abilities in lemurs regarding quantity representation and self-control.
