Cognitive control of memory in nonhuman animals Open Access
Brown, Emily Kathryn (Fall 2018)
Abstract
Cognitive control is the active, top-down adjustment and selective prioritization of information processing. In humans, cognitive control is a key feature of working memory; the degree to which nonhuman memory systems are accessible to cognitive monitoring and control is less clear. This dissertation collects three manuscripts that describe attempts to better understand cognitive control in three nonhuman species: rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta), black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus), and dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis). In paper 1, I describe a metacognition task designed to test how rhesus monkeys monitor memory under conditions that disproportionately encourage use of working memory or familiarity. Memory monitoring is a useful feedback system for cognitive control. Monkeys produced accuracy and latency data consistent with the additive effects of monitoring both working memory and familiarity. In paper 2, I describe a directed forgetting task designed to test how rhesus monkeys selectively engage in cognitively controlled maintenance of memory under conditions that disproportionately encourage use of working memory or familiarity. Monkeys showed evidence of cognitive control similar to rehearsal when remembering items drawn from a small set of repeating images, but not when remembering items from a large set of images that could likely be recognized at test without effortful retention. In paper 3, I describe the effects of concurrent cognitive load on memory and acquisition of novel discriminations in two bird species: the black-capped chickadee, which stores food that is later recovered by memory, and the dark-eyed junco, which does not. I found that chickadees were more adept at managing competing cognitive load than juncos, possibly because chickadees have adapted to flexibly manage memory for food caches. Together, the findings from these studies contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms of multiple memory systems in nonhumans.
Table of Contents
1. General introduction .....................................................................1
1.1. Challenges to testing cognitive control in nonhumans................................3
1.2. Metacognition paradigms ............................................................................5
1.3. Directed forgetting paradigms…………………………………………………………….7
1.4. Competing cognitive load paradigms………………………………………………….10
2. Paper 1: Dissociation of memory signals for metamemory in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta)........13
2.1. Abstract......................................................................................................14
2.2. Introduction...............................................................................................15
2.3. Experiment 1..............................................................................................19
2.3.1. Methods…………................................................................................19
2.3.2. Results and discussion.....................................................................26
2.4. Experiment 2.............................................................................................27
2.4.1. Methods………...................................................................................28
2.4.2. Results and discussion.....................................................................31
2.5. Analysis of latency data……………………………..……………………………………34
2.6. General discussion…………………………………………………………………………..37
3. Paper 2: Cognitive control of working memory but not familiarity in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta)........43
3.1. Abstract......................................................................................................44
3.2. Introduction..............................................................................................45
3.3. Methods.....................................................................................................51
3.4. Results ........................................................................................................58
3.5. Discussion .................................................................................................60
4. Paper 3: Cognitive control in a caching and a non-caching bird species .....................65
4.1. Abstract.....................................................................................................66
4.2. Introduction..............................................................................................67
4.3. Methods ....................................................................................................70
4.4. Results…………………………………………………………………………………………..79
4.5. Discussion……………………………………………………………………………………..81
5. General discussion ......................................................................85
6. References ........................................................................................................92
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