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Distinctiveness enhances long-term event memory in non-human primates, irrespective of reinforcement

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Date
08/2017
Author
Lewis, Amy
Call, Josep
Berntsen, Dorthe
Keywords
Long-term memory
Primates
Binding
Distinctiveness
Event memory
BF Psychology
NDAS
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Abstract
Non-human primates are capable of recalling events that occurred as long as three years ago, and are able to distinguish between similar events; akin to human memory. In humans, distinctiveness enhances memory for events, however, it is unknown whether the same occurs in non-human primates. As such, we tested three great ape species on their ability to remember an event that varied in distinctiveness. Across three experiments, apes witnessed a baiting event in which one of three identical containers was baited with food. After a delay of two weeks, we tested their memory for the location of the baited container. Apes failed to recall the baited container when the event was undistinctive (Experiment 1), but were successful when it was distinctive (Experiment 2), although performance was equally good in a less-distinctive condition. A third experiment (Experiment 3) confirmed that distinctiveness, independent of reinforcement, was a consistent predictor of performance. These findings suggest that distinctiveness may enhance memory for events in non-human primates in the same way as in humans, and provides further evidence of basic similarities between the ways apes and humans remember past events.
Citation
Lewis , A , Call , J & Berntsen , D 2017 , ' Distinctiveness enhances long-term event memory in non-human primates, irrespective of reinforcement ' , American Journal of Primatology , vol. 79 , no. 8 , e22665 . https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.22665
Publication
American Journal of Primatology
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.22665
ISSN
0275-2565
Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.22665
Description
This research was funded by the Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF89).
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  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/13134

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