Modelagem da resposta de arrastar um cursor numa tela sensível ao toque em macacos prego (Sapajus spp.)

Abstract

Longlived animals have expressive motor development during life time. Fine movements are part of the adaptation to environmental needs. Movements improve with exercise while antecipation of obstacles and movement corrections are learned as a function of results obtained. With the new interactive computer technologies, the use of the touchscreen now requires a number of movements to accomplish tasks that involve the understanding of the stimulus presented and the relations among them. Studies on the manual skill and the use of tools in capuchin monkeys indicate that besides the touch the capuchin monkey would be able, for example, to "drag" stimuli between two conspicuous points on the screen after shaping of this response. This study is an original experience of teaching capuchins to drag stimuli to a target, a first step for later studies including targets and decoys. Four capuchins served as subjects (genera Sapajus spp.) of this study that aimed to verify whether capuchin monkeys would learn to drag stimuli on a "touchscreen". After the shapping of the response by differential reinforcement the subjects were trained to drag a circle presented in the center of the screen until reaching a gradually larger circle around it. Results showed that the drag response, including simple and conditional “drag to a target” can be used with these subjects, and will possibly allow a new generation of research on cognition and symbolic potential, allowing to teach new stimulus relations repertoires and emergent relations tests.