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The Evolution of Primate Short-Term Memory
- Source :
- Animal Behavior and Cognition, Vol 9, Iss 4, Pp 428-516 (2022)
- Publication Year :
- 2022
- Publisher :
- Animal Behavior and Cognition, 2022.
-
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.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 23725052 and 23724323
- Volume :
- 9
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- Directory of Open Access Journals
- Journal :
- Animal Behavior and Cognition
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- edsdoj.0cb6fe32993c489f8b29e62662459f38
- Document Type :
- article
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.26451/abc.09.04.06.2022