Perceptual response patterns in rhesus macaque attentional set shifting are associated with inflexible behavior

The attentional set shifting task has been used across species to assess cognitive flexibility. Each phase of the task requires an animal to update their behavior based on a different rule that determines which feature of a complex stimulus is signaling a correct response. The present study used male and female rhesus monkey data to assess how response patterns were used in attentional set shifting, as it relates to cognitive flexibility. The formation of an attentional set where trials to criteria were higher in the extradimensional shift than the intradimensional shift, as well as elevated trials to criteria at the first reversal phase were observed after experience with the task. Bayesian analysis was used to detect the emergence of dominant response patterns, reflecting consecutive trials on which monkeys consistently selected stimuli sharing a particular feature: spatial location, shape, or color. This analysis revealed that monkeys that successfully complete the task do not heavily rely on a single dominant response pattern until they have accumulated sufficient evidence about which exemplar signals reinforcement. On the other hand, monkeys that do not complete the full task tend to deploy stronger perceptual response patterns, either indicating a tendency to perseverate on response patterns that are not reinforced or a tendency to sequentially attempt perceptual response patterns. The current data suggest that higher cognitive flexibility involves response patterns that are more advanced than following single perceptual domains. Future work will focus on how the temporal evolution of response patterns are related to cognitive flexibility.