Color categories in macaques.

Investigated whether macaque monkeys partition the photic spectrum into the same 4 basic hue categories that humans do (i.e., blue, green, yellow, and red). Seven males were trained to respond in the presence of one chromatic stimulus and were tested, in extinction, for generalization to others. In extinction, Ss responded at similar and high levels to stimuli that fell in the same human hue category as the training stimulus and at similar and much lower levels to stimuli that fell in a different human hue category from the training stimulus. It is concluded that macaques and humans categorize the spectrum in a similar fashion. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)