Inferential Learning of Serial Order of Perceptual Categories by Rhesus Monkeys (Macaca mulatta)

Abstract

Category learning in animals is typically trained explicitly, in most instances by varying the exemplars of a single category in a matching-to-sample task. Here, we show that rhesus macaques can learn categories by a transitive inference paradigm in which novel exemplars of five categories were presented throughout each training session. Instead of requiring decisions about a constant set of repetitively presented stimuli, we studied the macaques ability to determine the relative order of multiple exemplars of particular stimuli that were rarely repeated. Ordinal decisions generalized both to novel stimuli and, as a consequence, to novel pairings. Thus, we showed that rhesus monkeys could learn to categorize on the basis of implied ordinal position, and that they could then make inferences about category order. Our results challenge the plausibility of association models of category learning and broaden the scope of the transitive inference paradigm.\n\nSignificance StatementThe cognitive abilities of non-human animals are of enduring interest to scientists and the general public because they blur the dividing line between human and non-human intelligence. Categorization and sequence learning are highly abstract cognitive abilities each in their own right. This study is the first to provide evidence that visual categories can be ordered serially by macaque monkeys using a behavioral paradigm that provides no explicit feedback about category or serial order. These results strongly challenge accounts of learning based on stimulus-outcome associations.