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Comparison of social choices of trisomic macaques and of control groups found that groups showed few differences in preferences for stimulus animals with and without disabilities. Results suggest that the avoidance of individuals with disabilities is not a general primate trait and the presence of mental retardation and physical handicaps need not reduce positive social motivation. (Author/DB)

Rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) develop strategies to acquire and execute serial lists (K. B. Swartz & S. A. Himmanen, 2001). Serial probe recognition studies of list memory have demonstrated similarities across monkeys and humans (S. F. Sands & A. A. Wright, 1980). The present study extended the investigation of list learning and memory to determine whether orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus x P. abelii) would show evidence of subjective organization of photographic lists in a manner similar to that shown by humans learning a list of unrelated words (E. Tulving, 1962). No evidence for the effective use of a subjective organization strategy was found, but the orangutans developed a right-to-left spatial response strategy, which emerged during the acquisition of 5-item lists. This strategy was an effective way to reduce the load on working memory when presented with a complex array of items. Keywords: list memory, strategy, ape, orangutan, Pongo

Results suggest that when the internal element of a compound stimulus is a highly preferred or salient stimulus, young infants will process information about its characteristics. (Author/DB)

The Face in the Mirror: The Search for the Origins of Consciousness. Julian Keenan with Gordon G. Gallup, Jr., and Dean Falk. xxvi + 278 pp. Ecco/Harper Collins, 2003. $24.95. [...]

Two orangutans learned eight lists of items in a recognition memory procedure that allowed the list items to be reported in any order. In a previous study using this same procedure, the orangutans developed a spatial response strategy that was applied to acquisition of novel lists. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether serial order information would supersede the already established response pattern. One subject maintained the established response strategy while the other showed a gradual weakening of that pattern that appeared as lists were acquired. Neither subject demonstrated a serial position effect although serial order information may have affected the shift in response strategy. The obtained individual differences are striking in light of previous studies that have shown quantitative differences but no qualitative differences in serial learning by monkeys and orangutans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comparative studies of memory in monkey and human subjects suggest similarities in visual recognition memory across human and nonhuman primates. In order to investigate developmental aspects of visual recognition memory in monkey infants, the familiarization novelty procedure, developed for sue with human infants, was employed with pigtailed monkey infants to study long-delay recognition memory. Subjects were familiarized with a black-and-white abstract patters. Twenty-four hours later they were tested with the familiar pattern paired with a novel one. Results indicated a significant visual preference for the novel stimulus, providing evidence for recognition memory. These results parallel those obtained with human infants, suggesting further similarities in the development of visual recognition memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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