Monkeys seem to learn things the same way humans do, a new study by researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles has found.
Washington, Aug 2 : Monkeys seem to learn things the same way humans do, a new study by researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles has found.
"Like humans, monkeys benefit enormously from being actively involved in learning instead of having information presented to them passively," said Nate Kornell, a UCLA postdoctoral scholar in psychology and lead author of the study, which appears in the August issue of the journal Psychological Science.
"The advantage of active learning appears to be a fundamental property of memory in humans and nonhumans alike," he said.
The study began with teaching two rhesus macaque monkeys to place five photographs in a particular order.
The photographs were displayed on a touch-screen computer monitor similar to those found on ATMs. When the monkeys pressed a correct photograph, a border appeared around it. When either monkey pressed all five photographs in the correct order, he received a food reward. The chance of guessing all five accurately is less than one percent.
The monkeys were also provided with the option of getting help by pushing an icon in the corner of the screen that caused the border of the correct photograph to flash.
The researchers found that in all, each monkey learned to order at least 18 separate series of photographs, which included such items as a fish, a human face, a building, a football field and a flame from a match.
After three days, the monkeys were tested without the benefit of the help icon.
The researchers found that "both monkeys did much better if they had studied without a hint than if they had studied with a hint".
"The monkeys did much better on the first three days when they had the help than when they didn't, but on the test day, it completely reversed. When they studied with the hint, there is no evidence they learned anything about the list. They learned the lists when they didn't get the help," said Kornell.
"The findings were somewhat unintuitive, because passively using the hint appeared to enhance performance during the study phase of the experiment but had a deleterious effect on long-term learning," he said.
According to Kornell, the findings are closely related to findings in humans that recalling answers from memory enhances long-term learning.
"Many people incorrectly assume the better you do as you're studying, the more you're learning. If students don't test themselves when they read a chapter, they can easily think they know the material when they don't. When you test yourself as you study, you may feel like you're making it harder on yourself, but on the test, you will do much better," said Kornell.
"Active learning is important in humans and - this study demonstrates - in monkeys as well," he added.
ANI