The Rewarded, the Unrewarded, the Chosen, and the Unchosen

Abstract

One object was presented alone for two trials and then paired with a second object for six trials. Next, the second object was paired with a third object for six trials, and then sometimes the third object was paired with a fourth object for six trials. Four such sequences were given to seven test-wise rhesus monkeys on each of five days. Retention tests involving pairing of the dicrimination objects with new objects occurred on three days. When a chosen correct or incorrect object was paired with a new object, there was high positive transfer. When an unchosen negative object was paired with a new object, there was a tendency to choose the former. Although there was somewhat better retention of positive than negative objects, this may be attributed to unequal selection in the learning trials.