Using Metacognition to Identify the Underlying Memory System for Simultaneous Chaining in Rhesus Macaques Open Access

Abstract

When humans are simultaneously presented with images in a list, they rely on spatial representations to memorize the order. Monkeys use the same strategy to learn the order of simultaneously presented images. This is indicated by the presence of the symbolic distance effect, in which accuracy is lower as the symbolic distance—or the number of images separating the two test images within the list—decreases. However, it is unknown whether these spatial representations in monkeys are a form of explicit memory—memory that an organism is aware of and can cognitively monitor. One approach to determine the memory system underlying a task is to add a metacognitive choice, consisting of the option to accept or decline a test trial. In the current study, three experiments were performed to test if the representations formed in the simultaneous chaining task, a task used to train monkeys on lists of images, are available to metacognition in monkeys. In Experiment 1 we ran a simultaneous chaining task in monkeys and found that representations of the lists of images are spatially organized, indicated by the presence of the symbolic distance effect. In Experiment 2 we tested monkeys on a circle-size discrimination task with a metacognitive choice and found that monkeys are capable of acting metacognitively, declining harder trials at a higher rate than easy trials. In Experiment 3 we combined Experiment 1 and 2 by adding a metacognitive choice to the simultaneous chaining paradigm. This final experiment provided preliminary evidence that representations formed in the simultaneous chaining task are both spatial and available to metacognitive monitoring. These modest results suggest that monkeys may rely on explicit memory to form representations of simultaneously presented images.

Table of Contents

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………..1

Methods………………………………………………………………………………………..…6

           Subjects………………………………………………………………………...............6

            Apparatus…………………………………………………………………..…………….6

            Stimuli……………………………………………………………………………………..7

            Experiment 1……………………………………………………………………………..7

            Experiment 2…………………………………………………………………………….13

            Experiment 3…………………………………………………………………………....18

General Discussion…………………………………………………………………………...22

References…………………………………………………………………………………….…28

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology
Degree	B.S.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Psychology, Behavioral Psychology, Cognitive
Keyword	Macaques Memory Metacognition Chaining
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Hampton, Robert, Emory University
Committee Members	Craig, Erica, Emory University Easterling, Keith, Emory University

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