Taking personality selection bias seriously in animal cognition research: a case study in capuchin monkeys (Sapajus apella) (original) (raw)

Abstract

In most experimental work on animal cognition, researchers attempt to control for multiple interacting variables by training subjects prior to testing, allowing subjects to participate voluntarily, and providing subjects with food rewards. However, do such methods encourage selection bias from subjects’ personalities? In this study, we trained eighteen zoo-housed capuchin monkeys (Sapajus apella) for two experiments, under conditions of positive reinforcement (i.e. food rewards) and free-choice participation. Using a combination of behavioral and rater-based methods, we identified and validated five personality dimensions in these capuchins (Assertiveness, Openness, Neuroticism, Sociability, and Attentiveness). Scores on Openness were positively related to individual differences in monkey task participation, reflecting previous work showing that such individuals are often more active, curious, and willing to engage in testing. We also found a negative relationship between scores on Assertiveness and performance on tasks, which may reflect the trade-offs between speed and accuracy in these animals’ decision-making. Highly Assertive individuals (the most sociable within monkey groups) may also prioritize social interactions over engaging in research. Lastly, monkeys that consistently participated and performed well on both tasks showed significantly higher Openness and lower Assertiveness compared to others, mirroring relationships found between personality, participation, and performance among all participants. Participation and performance during training was clearly biased toward individuals with particular personalities (i.e. high Openness, low Assertiveness). Results are discussed in light of the need for careful interpretation of comparative data on animal cognition and the need for researchers to take personality selection bias more seriously.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

• Starting from 10 chapters or articles per month
• Access and download chapters and articles from more than 300k books and 2,500 journals
• Cancel anytime View plans

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1

The alternative text for this image may have been generated using AI.

Fig. 2

The alternative text for this image may have been generated using AI.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

• ASAB (2012) Guidelines for the treatment of animals in behavioural research and teaching. Anim Behav 83:301–309
  Article Google Scholar
• Bacon ES (1980) Curiosity in the American black bear. Bears: their biology and management, vol. 4, a selection of papers from the fourth international conference on bear research and management, Kalispell, Montana, USA, February 1977, pp 153–157
• Bates TC, Shieles A (2003) Crystallized intelligence as a product of speed and drive for experience: the relationship of inspection time and openness to g and Gc. Intelligence 31:275–287
  Article Google Scholar
• Benson-Amram S, Holekamp KE (2012) Innovative problem solving by wild spotted hyenas. Proc R Soc B-Biol Sci. doi:10.1098/rspb.2012.1450
  Google Scholar
• Bergman TJ, Kitchen DM (2009) Comparing responses to novel objects in wild baboons (Papio ursinus) and geladas (Theropithecus gelada). Anim Cogn 12:63–73
  Article PubMed Google Scholar
• Biondi LM, Bo MS, Vassallo AI (2010) Inter-individual and age differences in exploration, neophobia and problem-solving ability in a neotropical raptor (Milvago chimango). Anim Cogn 13:701–710. doi:10.1007/s10071-010-0319-8
  Article PubMed Google Scholar
• Biro PA, Dingemanse NJ (2009) Sampling bias resulting from animal personality. Trends Ecol Evol 24:66–68. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2008.11.001
  Article PubMed Google Scholar
• Blaney PH, Millon T (2009) Oxford textbook of psychopathology. Oxford University Press, Oxford
  Google Scholar
• Boogert NJ, Reader SM, Laland KN (2006) The relation between social rank, neophobia and individual learning in starlings. Anim Behav 72:1229–1239
  Article Google Scholar
• Bornehag CG, Sundell J, Sigsgaard T, Janson S (2004) Potential self- selection bias in a nested case-control study on indoor environmental factors and their association with asthma and allergic symptoms among pre-school children. Scand J Public Health 34(5):534–543
  Article Google Scholar
• Burns JG, Rodd FH (2008) Hastiness, brain size and predation regime affect the performance of wild guppies in a spatial memory task. Anim Behav 76:911–922. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.02.017
  Article Google Scholar
• Bussey TJ, Padain TL, Skillings EA, Winters BD, Morton AJ, Saksida LM (2008) The touchscreen cognitive testing method for rodents: how to get the best out of your rat. Learn Memory 15:516–523. doi:10.1101/lm.987808
  Article Google Scholar
• Cahan S, Gamliel E (2006) Definition and measurement of selection bias: from constant ratio to constant difference. J Edu Meas 43:131–144
  Article Google Scholar
• Campbell AM, Davalos DB, McCabe DP, Troup LJ (2011) Executive functions and extraversion. Pers Individ Dif 51:720–725
  Article Google Scholar
• Carere C, Locurto C (2011) Interaction between animal personality and animal cognition. Curr Zool 57:491–498
  Google Scholar
• Clark FE (2011) Great ape cognition and captive care: can cognitive challenges enhance well-being? Appl Anim Behav Sci 135:1–12. doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2011.10.010
  Article Google Scholar
• Dawkins R, Carlisle TR (1976) Parental investment, mate desertion, and a fallacy. Nature 262:131–133
  Article Google Scholar
• Deaner R, van Schaik C, Johnson V (2006) Do some taxa have better domain-general cognition than others? A meta-analysis of nonhuman primate studies. Evol Psychol 4:149–196
  Google Scholar
• Evans TA, Beran MJ, Chan B, Klein ED, Menzel CR (2008) An efficient computerized testing method for the capuchin monkey (Cebus apella): adaptation of the LRC-CTS to a socially housed nonhuman primate species. Behav Res Methods 40:590–596. doi:10.3758/BRM.40.2.590
  Article PubMed Google Scholar
• Fagot J, Paleressompoulle D (2009) Automatic testing of cognitive performance in baboons maintained in social groups. Behav Res Methods 41:396–404. doi:10.3758/BRM.41.2.396
  Article PubMed Google Scholar
• Fragaszy DM, Visalberghi E, Fedigan LM (2004) The complete capuchin: the biology of the genus Cebus. Cambridge University Press, New York
  Google Scholar
• Garamszegi LZ, Eens M, Török J (2009) Behavioural syndromes and trappability in free-living collared flycatchers, Ficedula albicollis. Anim Behav 77:803–812. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.12.012
  Article Google Scholar
• Garber PA, Gomes DF, Bicca-Marques JC (2012) Experimental field study of problem-solving using tools in free-ranging capuchins (Sapajus nigritus, formerly Cebus nigritus). Am J Primatol 74:344–358. doi:10.1002/ajp.20957
  Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
• Gosling SD, John OP (1999) Personality dimensions in nonhuman animals: a cross-species review. Curr Dir Psychol Sci 8:69–75
  Article Google Scholar
• Herrelko ES, Vick S-J, Buchanan-Smith HM (2012) Cognitive research in zoo-housed chimpanzees: influence of personality and impact on welfare. Am J Primatol. doi:10.1002/ajp.22036
  Google Scholar
• Kashdan TB, Rose P, Fincham FD (2004) Curiosity and exploration: facilitating positive subjective experiences and personal growth opportunities. J Pers Assess 82:291–305
  Article PubMed Google Scholar
• Leonardi R, Buchanan-Smith HM, Dufour V, MacDonald C, Whiten A (2010) Living together: behavior and welfare in single and mixed species groups of capuchin (Cebus apella) and squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus). Am J Primatol 72:33–47
  Article PubMed Google Scholar
• MacDonald C, Whiten A (2011) The ‘Living Links to Human Evolution’ Research Centre in Edinburgh Zoo: a new endeavour in collaboration. Int Zoo Yearbook 45:1–17. doi:10.111/j.1748-1090.2010.00120.x
  Article Google Scholar
• Malani A (2008) Patient enrollment in medical trials: selection bias in a randomized experiment. J Econom 144:341–351
  Article Google Scholar
• Morton FB, Lee PC, Buchanan-Smith HM, Brosnan S, Thierry B, Paukner A, de Waal FBM, Widness J, Essler J, Weiss A (2013) Personality structure in brown capuchin monkeys: comparisons with chimpanzees, orangutans, and rhesus macaques. J Comp Psychol. doi:10.1037/a0031723
• Rehbein L, Moss MB (2002) Explorations of three modes of spatial cognition in the monkey. Psicológica 23:139–163
  Google Scholar
• Reid GMcG, Macdonald AA, Fidgett AL, Hiddinga B, Leus K (2008) Developing the research potential of zoos and aquaria. The EAZA research strategy EAZA executive office, Amsterdam. ISBN: 978-90-77879-10-8
• Sih A, Del Giudice M (2012) Linking behavioural syndromes and cognition: a behavioural ecology perspective. Phil Trans R Sci B. doi:10.1098/rstb.2012.0216
  Google Scholar
• Watson SL, Ward JP (1996) Temperament and problem solving in the small- eared bushbaby (Otolemur garnettii). J Comp Psychol 110:377–385
  Article Google Scholar
• Weiss A, Inoue-Murayama M, Hong K-W et al (2009) Assessing chimpanzee personality and subjective well-being in Japan. Am J Primatol 71:283–292. doi:10.1002/ajp.v71:4
  Article PubMed Google Scholar
• Weiss A, Adams MJ, Widdig A, Gerald MS (2011) Rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) as living fossils of hominoid personality and subjective well-being. J Comp Psychol 125:72–83. doi:10.1037/a0021187
  Article PubMed Google Scholar
• Wilson ADM, Thomas RB, Keegan PM, Cooke SJ, Godin J-GJ (2011) Capture technique and fish personality: angling targets timid bluegill sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 68:749–757. doi:10.1139/F2011-019
  Article Google Scholar

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research would not have been possible without the many people involved in the capuchin personality study, particularly A. Weiss, S. Brosnan, and B. Thierry. F.B.M. would also like to personally thank Prof. Andrew Whiten, Director of Living Links (RZSS), who gave permission to conduct research there, and all of the Living Links/RZSS staff and students who kindly provided support and assistance. We also thank K. Howie who gave helpful statistical advice, P. Hancock who kindly conducted the bootstrapping analysis used in this study, the BERG (University of Stirling) for their feedback, and J. Anderson, S. Brosnan, and the anonymous reviewers for providing useful comments on earlier drafts. F.B.M gratefully acknowledges the Charles A. Lockwood Memorial Fund and the University of Stirling for funding. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

1. Behaviour and Evolution Research Group and Scottish Primate Research Group, Psychology, School of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK
   F. Blake Morton, Phyllis C. Lee & Hannah M. Buchanan-Smith

Authors

1. F. Blake Morton
2. Phyllis C. Lee
3. Hannah M. Buchanan-Smith

Corresponding author

Correspondence toF. Blake Morton.

Electronic supplementary material

Rights and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Morton, F.B., Lee, P.C. & Buchanan-Smith, H.M. Taking personality selection bias seriously in animal cognition research: a case study in capuchin monkeys (Sapajus apella).Anim Cogn 16, 677–684 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-013-0603-5

Download citation

• Received: 12 October 2012
• Revised: 13 January 2013
• Accepted: 15 January 2013
• Published: 31 January 2013
• Issue date: July 2013
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-013-0603-5

Keywords