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The evolution of primate short-term memory

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ManyPrimates_ABC_9_4_Evolution_CC.pdf (6.733Mb)
Date
04/11/2022
Author
Many Primates
Keywords
Cognitive evolution
Short-term memory
Primate cognition
Phylogenetic analysis
BF Psychology
DAS
MCC
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Abstract
Short-term memory is implicated in a range of cognitive abilities and is critical for understanding primate cognitive evolution. To investigate the effects of phylogeny, ecology and sociality on short-term memory, we tested the largest and most diverse primate sample to date (421 non-human primates across 41 species) in an experimental delayed-response task. Our results confirm previous findings that longer delays decrease memory performance across species and taxa. Our analyses demonstrate a considerable contribution of phylogeny over ecological and social factors on the distribution of short-term memory performance in primates; closely related species had more similar short-term memory abilities. Overall, individuals in the branch of Hominoidea performed better compared to Cercopithecoidea, who in turn performed above Platyrrhini and Strepsirrhini. Interdependencies between phylogeny and socioecology of a given species presented an obstacle to disentangling the effects of each of these factors on the evolution of short-term memory capacity. However, this study offers an important step forward in understanding the interspecies and individual variation in short-term memory ability by providing the first phylogenetic reconstruction of this trait’s evolutionary history. The dataset constitutes a unique resource for studying the evolution of primate cognition and the role of short-term memory in other cognitive abilities.
Citation
Many Primates 2022 , ' The evolution of primate short-term memory ' , Animal Behavior and Cognition , vol. 9 , no. 4 , pp. 428-516 . https://doi.org/10.26451/abc.09.04.06.2022
Publication
Animal Behavior and Cognition
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.26451/abc.09.04.06.2022
ISSN
2372-5052
Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Open Access article, distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License, which permits individuals to copy, reuse, reprint, modify, distribute, transmit, and adapt their work in any medium, so long as the original work is properly cited.
Description
* Correspondence should be addressed to Manuel Bohn (manyprimates@gmai l.com).
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  • University of St Andrews Research
URL
https://psyarxiv.com/5etnf/
https://www.animalbehaviorandcognition.org/article.php?id=1334
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/26598

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