Processing of ordinality and transitivity by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

J Comp Psychol. 1993 Jun;107(2):208-15. doi: 10.1037/0735-7036.107.2.208.

Abstract

Three chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) were trained to discriminate among pairs of boxes in an ABCDE-ordered series. The 2nd member of each pair was reinforced, until all 4 training pairs were learned. During novel tests the nonadjacent BD pair was presented, and all 3 animals reliably selected D. In Experiment 2, numerals 1-5 served as stimuli. One chimpanzee reliably selected the larger numeral 4 during testing with a nonadjacent pair (2-4), and 2 chimps showed no preference. In a 2nd phase, the same chimp demonstrated proficiency at reversing the task, reliably selecting the smaller of the 2-4 pair. In Experiment 4, after additional training, a 2nd test, which included novel test pairs composed of numbers that had not been used during training, was completed. Two of 3 animals were 100% correct on Trial 1 for all novel pairs. The results suggest that chimpanzees with experience in number concepts may recognize the ordinal character of numbers.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Behavior, Animal*
  • Choice Behavior
  • Cognition*
  • Discrimination Learning
  • Female
  • Male
  • Pan troglodytes*
  • Reinforcement, Psychology
  • Task Performance and Analysis