Response-mode shifts during sequence learning of macaque monkeys

TitleResponse-mode shifts during sequence learning of macaque monkeys
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2013
AuthorsRünger, D., F Ashby G., Picard N., & Strick P. L.
JournalPsychological Research
Volume77
Issue2
Pagination223-233
Date Published2013 Mar
ISSN1430-2772
KeywordsAnimals, Behavior, Animal, Learning, Macaca, Reaction Time
Abstract

Incidental sequence learning has been conceptualized as involving a shift from stimulus-based to plan-based performance (e.g., Tubauet et al. in Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 136:43-63, 2007). We analyzed the response time (RT) data of two macaque monkeys that were trained for thousands of trials on a sequential reaching task in a study by Matsuzaka et al. in Journal of Neurophysiology 97, 1819-1832 (2007). The animals learned to respond predictively to a repeating 3-element sequence. During a transitional period, RT distributions were bimodal, indicating that the animals alternated between two processing modes. An analysis of trial-to-trial mode shifting probabilities provided preliminary evidence for a strategic process.

DOI10.1007/s00426-011-0402-z
Alternate JournalPsychol Res
PubMed ID22159763
Grant ListP01NS044393 / NS / NINDS NIH HHS / United States