1
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Xiao F, Liang K, Sun T, He F. The developmental cognitive mechanism of learning algebraic rules from the dual-process theory perspective. Psych J 2024; 13:517-526. [PMID: 38618751 DOI: 10.1002/pchj.749] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2023] [Accepted: 01/03/2024] [Indexed: 04/16/2024]
Abstract
Rule learning is an important ability that enables human beings to adapt to nature and develop civilizations. There have been many discussions on the mechanism and characteristics of algebraic rule learning, but there are still controversies due to the lack of theoretical guidance. Based on the dual-process theory, this study discussed the following arguments for algebraic rule learning across human and animal studies: whether algebraic rule learning is simply Type 1 processing, whether algebraic rule learning is a domain-general ability, whether algebraic rule learning is shared by humans and animals, and whether an algebraic rule is learned consciously. Moreover, we propose that algebraic rule learning is possibly a cognitive process that combines both Type 1 and Type 2 processing. Further exploration is required to establish the essence and neural basis of algebraic rule learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feng Xiao
- Department of Psychology, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang, China
- Department of Educational Science, Shanxi Normal University, Taiyuan, China
| | - Kun Liang
- Department of Educational Science, Shanxi Normal University, Taiyuan, China
| | - Tie Sun
- Joint Education Institute of Zhejiang Normal University and University of Kansas, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
- College of Education, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China
| | - Fengqi He
- Department of Educational Science, Shanxi Normal University, Taiyuan, China
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2
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Abstract
Across the millennia, and across a range of disciplines, there has been a widespread desire to connect, or translate between, the senses in a manner that is meaningful, rather than arbitrary. Early examples were often inspired by the vivid, yet mostly idiosyncratic, crossmodal matches expressed by synaesthetes, often exploited for aesthetic purposes by writers, artists, and composers. A separate approach comes from those academic commentators who have attempted to translate between structurally similar dimensions of perceptual experience (such as pitch and colour). However, neither approach has succeeded in delivering consensually agreed crossmodal matches. As such, an alternative approach to sensory translation is needed. In this narrative historical review, focusing on the translation between audition and vision, we attempt to shed light on the topic by addressing the following three questions: (1) How is the topic of sensory translation related to synaesthesia, multisensory integration, and crossmodal associations? (2) Are there common processing mechanisms across the senses that can help to guarantee the success of sensory translation, or, rather, is mapping among the senses mediated by allegedly universal (e.g., amodal) stimulus dimensions? (3) Is the term 'translation' in the context of cross-sensory mappings used metaphorically or literally? Given the general mechanisms and concepts discussed throughout the review, the answers we come to regarding the nature of audio-visual translation are likely to apply to the translation between other perhaps less-frequently studied modality pairings as well.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles Spence
- Crossmodal Research Laboratory, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
- Department of Experimental Psychology, New Radcliffe House, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX2 6BW, UK.
| | - Nicola Di Stefano
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Rome, Italy
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3
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Martin L, Marie J, Brun M, de Hevia MD, Streri A, Izard V. Abstract representations of small sets in newborns. Cognition 2022; 226:105184. [PMID: 35671541 PMCID: PMC9289748 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2021] [Revised: 03/22/2022] [Accepted: 05/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
From the very first days of life, newborns are not tied to represent narrow, modality- and object-specific aspects of their environment. Rather, they sometimes react to abstract properties shared by stimuli of very different nature, such as approximate numerosity or magnitude. As of now, however, there is no evidence that newborns possess abstract representations that apply to small sets: in particular, while newborns can match large approximate numerosities across senses, this ability does not extend to small numerosities. In two experiments, we presented newborn infants (N = 64, age 17 to 98 h) with patterned sets AB or ABB simultaneously in the auditory and visual modalities. Auditory patterns were presented as periodic sequences of sounds (AB: triangle-drum-triangle-drum-triangle-drum …; ABB: triangle-drum-drum-triangle-drum-drum-triangle-drum-drum …), and visual patterns as arrays of 2 or 3 shapes (AB: circle-diamond; ABB: circle-diamond-diamond). In both experiments, we found that participants reacted and looked longer when the patterns matched across the auditory and visual modalities – provided that the first stimulus they received was congruent. These findings uncover the existence of yet another type of abstract representations at birth, applying to small sets. As such, they bolster the hypothesis that newborns are endowed with the capacity to represent their environment in broad strokes, in terms of its most abstract properties. This capacity for abstraction could later serve as a scaffold for infants to learn about the particular entities surrounding them. Newborns were presented with auditory and visual patterns (AB vs. ABB). Participants reacted when the patterns presented were congruent across modalities. Newborns possess abstract representations applying to small sets. These representations may encode numerosity and/or repetitions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucie Martin
- Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center, F-75006 Paris, France
| | - Julien Marie
- Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center, F-75006 Paris, France
| | - Mélanie Brun
- Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center, F-75006 Paris, France
| | - Maria Dolores de Hevia
- Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center, F-75006 Paris, France
| | - Arlette Streri
- Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center, F-75006 Paris, France
| | - Véronique Izard
- Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center, F-75006 Paris, France.
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4
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Nonhuman primates learn adjacent dependencies but fail to learn nonadjacent dependencies in a statistical learning task with a salient cue. Learn Behav 2021; 50:242-253. [PMID: 34581986 DOI: 10.3758/s13420-021-00485-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
There is ample evidence that humans and nonhuman animals can learn complex statistical regularities presented within various types of input. However, humans outperform their nonhuman primate counterparts when it comes to recognizing relationships that exist across one or several intervening stimuli (nonadjacent dependencies). This is especially true when the two elements in the dependency do not share any perceptual similarity (arbitrary associations). In the present study, we investigated whether manipulating the saliency of the predictive stimulus would enhance nonadjacent dependency learning in nonhuman primates. Rhesus macaques and tufted capuchins engaged in a computerized signal detection task that included sequences that were random in nature, included an adjacent dependency, or included a nonadjacent dependency. We manipulated the saliency of the predictive stimulus, such that the predictor jittered in place on the screen in some grammar blocks, as well as the transitional probability (the likelihood of the stimulus preceding the target to accurately predict the target's appearance) from block to block. Some monkeys evidenced learning of adjacent dependencies by faster response times to targets that followed a predictive stimulus compared to targets that were not preceded by a predictor. However, consistent with the body of evidence that indicates that nonhuman animals' statistical learning mechanisms are not at the same level of sophistication as humans', there was no evidence that monkeys learned nonadjacent dependencies of arbitrary associations, even when the salient cue was present.
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5
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Watson SK, Burkart JM, Schapiro SJ, Lambeth SP, Mueller JL, Townsend SW. Nonadjacent dependency processing in monkeys, apes, and humans. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2020; 6:6/43/eabb0725. [PMID: 33087361 PMCID: PMC7577713 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abb0725] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2020] [Accepted: 09/08/2020] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
The ability to track syntactic relationships between words, particularly over distances ("nonadjacent dependencies"), is a critical faculty underpinning human language, although its evolutionary origins remain poorly understood. While some monkey species are reported to process auditory nonadjacent dependencies, comparative data from apes are missing, complicating inferences regarding shared ancestry. Here, we examined nonadjacent dependency processing in common marmosets, chimpanzees, and humans using "artificial grammars": strings of arbitrary acoustic stimuli composed of adjacent (nonhumans) or nonadjacent (all species) dependencies. Individuals from each species (i) generalized the grammars to novel stimuli and (ii) detected grammatical violations, indicating that they processed the dependencies between constituent elements. Furthermore, there was no difference between marmosets and chimpanzees in their sensitivity to nonadjacent dependencies. These notable similarities between monkeys, apes, and humans indicate that nonadjacent dependency processing, a crucial cognitive facilitator of language, is an ancestral trait that evolved at least ~40 million years before language itself.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stuart K Watson
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Judith M Burkart
- Anthropological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Steven J Schapiro
- UT MD Anderson Cancer Research Center, Bastrop, TX, USA
- Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | - Jutta L Mueller
- Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany
- Department of Linguistics, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Simon W Townsend
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
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6
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Wilson B, Spierings M, Ravignani A, Mueller JL, Mintz TH, Wijnen F, van der Kant A, Smith K, Rey A. Non-adjacent Dependency Learning in Humans and Other Animals. Top Cogn Sci 2020; 12:843-858. [PMID: 32729673 PMCID: PMC7496455 DOI: 10.1111/tops.12381] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2018] [Revised: 05/22/2018] [Accepted: 05/30/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Learning and processing natural language requires the ability to track syntactic relationships between words and phrases in a sentence, which are often separated by intervening material. These nonadjacent dependencies can be studied using artificial grammar learning paradigms and structured sequence processing tasks. These approaches have been used to demonstrate that human adults, infants and some nonhuman animals are able to detect and learn dependencies between nonadjacent elements within a sequence. However, learning nonadjacent dependencies appears to be more cognitively demanding than detecting dependencies between adjacent elements, and only occurs in certain circumstances. In this review, we discuss different types of nonadjacent dependencies in language and in artificial grammar learning experiments, and how these differences might impact learning. We summarize different types of perceptual cues that facilitate learning, by highlighting the relationship between dependent elements bringing them closer together either physically, attentionally, or perceptually. Finally, we review artificial grammar learning experiments in human adults, infants, and nonhuman animals, and discuss how similarities and differences observed across these groups can provide insights into how language is learned across development and how these language-related abilities might have evolved.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Andrea Ravignani
- Research DepartmentSealcentre Pieterburen
- Artificial Intelligence LabVrije Universiteit Brussel
| | | | - Toben H. Mintz
- Departments of Psychology and LinguisticsUniversity of Southern California
| | - Frank Wijnen
- Utrecht Institute of Linguistics OTSUtrecht University
| | | | - Kenny Smith
- Centre for Language EvolutionUniversity of Edinburgh
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7
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Margiotoudi K, Allritz M, Bohn M, Pulvermüller F. Sound symbolic congruency detection in humans but not in great apes. Sci Rep 2019; 9:12705. [PMID: 31481655 PMCID: PMC6722092 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-49101-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2019] [Accepted: 08/15/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Theories on the evolution of language highlight iconicity as one of the unique features of human language. One important manifestation of iconicity is sound symbolism, the intrinsic relationship between meaningless speech sounds and visual shapes, as exemplified by the famous correspondences between the pseudowords 'maluma' vs. 'takete' and abstract curved and angular shapes. Although sound symbolism has been studied extensively in humans including young children and infants, it has never been investigated in non-human primates lacking language. In the present study, we administered the classic "takete-maluma" paradigm in both humans (N = 24 and N = 31) and great apes (N = 8). In a forced choice matching task, humans but not great apes, showed crossmodal sound symbolic congruency effects, whereby effects were more pronounced for shape selections following round-sounding primes than following edgy-sounding primes. These results suggest that the ability to detect sound symbolic correspondences is the outcome of a phylogenetic process, whose underlying emerging mechanism may be relevant to symbolic ability more generally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Konstantina Margiotoudi
- Brain Language Laboratory, Department of Philosophy and Humanities, WE4, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195, Berlin, Germany.
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, 10099, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Matthias Allritz
- School of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Fife, UK
| | - Manuel Bohn
- Leipziger Forschungszentrum für frühkindliche Entwicklung, Universität Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, USA
| | - Friedemann Pulvermüller
- Brain Language Laboratory, Department of Philosophy and Humanities, WE4, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195, Berlin, Germany
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, 10099, Berlin, Germany
- Cluster of Excellence "Matters of Activity", Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, 10099, Berlin, Germany
- Einstein Center for Neurosciences Berlin, 10117, Berlin, Germany
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8
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Versace E, Rogge JR, Shelton-May N, Ravignani A. Positional encoding in cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus). Anim Cogn 2019; 22:825-838. [PMID: 31264123 PMCID: PMC6687687 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-019-01277-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2019] [Revised: 05/29/2019] [Accepted: 06/05/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Strategies used in artificial grammar learning can shed light into the abilities of different species to extract regularities from the environment. In the A(X)nB rule, A and B items are linked, but assigned to different positional categories and separated by distractor items. Open questions are how widespread is the ability to extract positional regularities from A(X)nB patterns, which strategies are used to encode positional regularities and whether individuals exhibit preferences for absolute or relative position encoding. We used visual arrays to investigate whether cotton-top tamarins (Saguinusoedipus) can learn this rule and which strategies they use. After training on a subset of exemplars, two of the tested monkeys successfully generalized to novel combinations. These tamarins discriminated between categories of tokens with different properties (A, B, X) and detected a positional relationship between non-adjacent items even in the presence of novel distractors. The pattern of errors revealed that successful subjects used visual similarity with training stimuli to solve the task and that successful tamarins extracted the relative position of As and Bs rather than their absolute position, similarly to what has been observed in other species. Relative position encoding appears to be favoured in different tasks and taxa. Generalization, though, was incomplete, since we observed a failure with items that during training had always been presented in reinforced arrays, showing the limitations in grasping the underlying positional rule. These results suggest the use of local strategies in the extraction of positional rules in cotton-top tamarins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisabetta Versace
- Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology, Queen Mary University of London, London, E1 4NS, UK.
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA.
| | - Jessica R Rogge
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
| | | | - Andrea Ravignani
- Artificial Intelligence Lab, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050, Brussels, Belgium
- Language and Cognition Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, 6525 XD, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
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9
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Ravignani A, Filippi P, Tecumseh Fitch W. Perceptual Tuning Influences Rule Generalization: Testing Humans With Monkey-Tailored Stimuli. Iperception 2019; 10:2041669519846135. [PMID: 31065333 PMCID: PMC6488782 DOI: 10.1177/2041669519846135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2018] [Accepted: 03/19/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Comparative research investigating how nonhuman animals generalize patterns of auditory stimuli often uses sequences of human speech syllables and reports limited generalization abilities in animals. Here, we reverse this logic, testing humans with stimulus sequences tailored to squirrel monkeys. When test stimuli are familiar (human voices), humans succeed in two types of generalization. However, when the same structural rule is instantiated over unfamiliar but perceivable sounds within squirrel monkeys' optimal hearing frequency range, human participants master only one type of generalization. These findings have methodological implications for the design of comparative experiments, which should be fair towards all tested species' proclivities and limitations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Ravignani
- Department of Cognitive Biology, Faculty of Life
Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Piera Filippi
- Department of Cognitive Biology, Faculty of Life
Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - W. Tecumseh Fitch
- Department of Cognitive Biology, Faculty of Life
Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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10
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Reber SA, Šlipogor V, Oh J, Ravignani A, Hoeschele M, Bugnyar T, Fitch WT. Common marmosets are sensitive to simple dependencies at variable distances in an artificial grammar. EVOL HUM BEHAV 2019; 40:214-221. [PMID: 31007503 PMCID: PMC6472617 DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2018.11.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2018] [Revised: 10/31/2018] [Accepted: 11/30/2018] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Recognizing that two elements within a sequence of variable length depend on each other is a key ability in understanding the structure of language and music. Perception of such interdependencies has previously been documented in chimpanzees in the visual domain and in human infants and common squirrel monkeys with auditory playback experiments, but it remains unclear whether it typifies primates in general. Here, we investigated the ability of common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) to recognize and respond to such dependencies. We tested subjects in a familiarization-discrimination playback experiment using stimuli composed of pure tones that either conformed or did not conform to a grammatical rule. After familiarization to sequences with dependencies, marmosets spontaneously discriminated between sequences containing and lacking dependencies ('consistent' and 'inconsistent', respectively), independent of stimulus length. Marmosets looked more often to the sound source when hearing sequences consistent with the familiarization stimuli, as previously found in human infants. Crucially, looks were coded automatically by computer software, avoiding human bias. Our results support the hypothesis that the ability to perceive dependencies at variable distances was already present in the common ancestor of all anthropoid primates (Simiiformes).
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephan A. Reber
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
- Department of Philosophy, Lund University, Helgonavägen 3, 22 100 Lund, Sweden
| | - Vedrana Šlipogor
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Jinook Oh
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Andrea Ravignani
- Artificial Intelligence Lab, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Marisa Hoeschele
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
- Acoustics Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Wohllebengasse 12-14, 1040 Vienna, Austria
| | - Thomas Bugnyar
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - W. Tecumseh Fitch
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
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11
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Egelkamp CL, Ross SR. A review of zoo-based cognitive research using touchscreen interfaces. Zoo Biol 2018; 38:220-235. [PMID: 30480845 DOI: 10.1002/zoo.21458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2018] [Revised: 10/05/2018] [Accepted: 10/26/2018] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
In the past few decades, there has been an increase in the number of zoo-based touchscreen studies of animal cognition around the world. Such studies have contributed to the field of comparative cognition despite the fact research has only been performed at a relatively small number of institutions and with a narrow range of species. Nonetheless, zoo-based touchscreen studies are increasingly recognized as both having the potential to be enriching for captive animals by providing them with opportunities for choice, as well as potentially being a tool with which to measure changes in welfare. Zoo-based touchscreen research on public display also has the potential to impact zoo visitors; encouraging them not only learn more about the cognitive abilities of animals, but also potentially promoting increased respect for these species. Given the lack of a comprehensive review of this scope of specialized research, and the broad potential impacts on animals and programs, here we discuss the history, implementation, and potential outcomes of touchscreen research in zoo settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Crystal L Egelkamp
- Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Stephen R Ross
- Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, Illinois
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12
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Milne AE, Petkov CI, Wilson B. Auditory and Visual Sequence Learning in Humans and Monkeys using an Artificial Grammar Learning Paradigm. Neuroscience 2018; 389:104-117. [PMID: 28687306 PMCID: PMC6278909 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2017.06.059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2017] [Revised: 06/26/2017] [Accepted: 06/27/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Language flexibly supports the human ability to communicate using different sensory modalities, such as writing and reading in the visual modality and speaking and listening in the auditory domain. Although it has been argued that nonhuman primate communication abilities are inherently multisensory, direct behavioural comparisons between human and nonhuman primates are scant. Artificial grammar learning (AGL) tasks and statistical learning experiments can be used to emulate ordering relationships between words in a sentence. However, previous comparative work using such paradigms has primarily investigated sequence learning within a single sensory modality. We used an AGL paradigm to evaluate how humans and macaque monkeys learn and respond to identically structured sequences of either auditory or visual stimuli. In the auditory and visual experiments, we found that both species were sensitive to the ordering relationships between elements in the sequences. Moreover, the humans and monkeys produced largely similar response patterns to the visual and auditory sequences, indicating that the sequences are processed in comparable ways across the sensory modalities. These results provide evidence that human sequence processing abilities stem from an evolutionarily conserved capacity that appears to operate comparably across the sensory modalities in both human and nonhuman primates. The findings set the stage for future neurobiological studies to investigate the multisensory nature of these sequencing operations in nonhuman primates and how they compare to related processes in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alice E Milne
- Institute of Neuroscience, Henry Wellcome Building, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, United Kingdom; Centre for Behaviour and Evolution, Henry Wellcome Building, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, United Kingdom
| | - Christopher I Petkov
- Institute of Neuroscience, Henry Wellcome Building, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, United Kingdom; Centre for Behaviour and Evolution, Henry Wellcome Building, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, United Kingdom.
| | - Benjamin Wilson
- Institute of Neuroscience, Henry Wellcome Building, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, United Kingdom; Centre for Behaviour and Evolution, Henry Wellcome Building, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, United Kingdom
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13
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14
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Malassis R, Rey A, Fagot J. Non-adjacent Dependencies Processing in Human and Non-human Primates. Cogn Sci 2018; 42:1677-1699. [PMID: 29781135 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12617] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2017] [Revised: 03/13/2018] [Accepted: 03/14/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Human and non-human primates share the ability to extract adjacent dependencies and, under certain conditions, non-adjacent dependencies (i.e., predictive relationships between elements that are separated by one or several intervening elements in a sequence). In this study, we explore the online extraction dynamics of non-adjacent dependencies in humans and baboons using a serial reaction time task. Participants had to produce three-target sequences containing deterministic relationships between the first and last target locations. In Experiment 1, participants from the two species could extract these non-adjacent dependencies, but humans required less exposure than baboons. In Experiment 2, the data show for the first time in a non-human primate species the successful generalization of sequential non-adjacent dependencies over novel intervening items. These findings provide new evidence to further constrain current theories about the nature and the evolutionary origins of the learning mechanisms allowing the extraction of non-adjacent dependencies.
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15
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Ravignani A, Westphal-Fitch G, Aust U, Schlumpp MM, Fitch WT. More than one way to see it: Individual heuristics in avian visual computation. Cognition 2015; 143:13-24. [PMID: 26113444 PMCID: PMC4710635 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2015.05.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2014] [Revised: 04/15/2015] [Accepted: 05/26/2015] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Comparative pattern learning experiments investigate how different species find regularities in sensory input, providing insights into cognitive processing in humans and other animals. Past research has focused either on one species' ability to process pattern classes or different species' performance in recognizing the same pattern, with little attention to individual and species-specific heuristics and decision strategies. We trained and tested two bird species, pigeons (Columba livia) and kea (Nestor notabilis, a parrot species), on visual patterns using touch-screen technology. Patterns were composed of several abstract elements and had varying degrees of structural complexity. We developed a model selection paradigm, based on regular expressions, that allowed us to reconstruct the specific decision strategies and cognitive heuristics adopted by a given individual in our task. Individual birds showed considerable differences in the number, type and heterogeneity of heuristic strategies adopted. Birds' choices also exhibited consistent species-level differences. Kea adopted effective heuristic strategies, based on matching learned bigrams to stimulus edges. Individual pigeons, in contrast, adopted an idiosyncratic mix of strategies that included local transition probabilities and global string similarity. Although performance was above chance and quite high for kea, no individual of either species provided clear evidence of learning exactly the rule used to generate the training stimuli. Our results show that similar behavioral outcomes can be achieved using dramatically different strategies and highlight the dangers of combining multiple individuals in a group analysis. These findings, and our general approach, have implications for the design of future pattern learning experiments, and the interpretation of comparative cognition research more generally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Ravignani
- Department of Cognitive Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria; Language Evolution and Computation Research Unit, University of Edinburgh, EH8 9AD Edinburgh, UK.
| | - Gesche Westphal-Fitch
- Department of Cognitive Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Ulrike Aust
- Department of Cognitive Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Martin M Schlumpp
- Department of Cognitive Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria; Haidlhof Research Station, University of Vienna/University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna/Messerli Research Institute, 2540 Bad Vöslau, Austria
| | - W Tecumseh Fitch
- Department of Cognitive Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria; Haidlhof Research Station, University of Vienna/University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna/Messerli Research Institute, 2540 Bad Vöslau, Austria.
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