Video-task assessment of learning and memory in macaques (Macaca mulatta): Effects of stimulus movement on performance.

Effects of stimulus movement on learning, transfer, matching, and short-term memory performance were assessed with 2 monkeys using a video-task paradigm (VTP) in which the animals responded to computer-generated images by manipulating a joystick. Performance on tests of learning set, transfer index, matching to sample, and delayed matching to sample in the VTP was comparable to that obtained in previous investigations using the Wisconsin General Testing Apparatus (D. M. Rumbaugh et al, 1989). Additionally, learning, transfer, and matching were reliably and significantly better when the stimuli or discriminanda moved than when the stimuli were stationary. External manipulations such as stimulus movement may increase attention to the demands of a task, which in turn should increase the efficiency of learning. Findings have implications for the investigation of learning in other populations, as well as for the application of the VTP to comparative study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)