Comparação de dois procedimentos computadorizados para avaliação de discriminação de cores em Cebus sp

Abstract

Color vision consists in discrimination of objects based on their spectral composition, assisting in the organism-environment interaction. Among primates, it is estimated that the majority of the platyrrhines monkeys has a polymorphic and sex-linked dichromacy. The objective of this study was to compare the results produced by different equipments and softwares for assessment of tri/dichromatic conditions of two males and two females of the genus Cebus sp. Two computerized programs were used: one involving an adapted version of the Cambridge Colour Test and another one developed for a standard computational system. In Experiment 1 and 2 were possible to verify the trichromatic condition of one female subject and the dichromatic condition of the rest of the participants. In Experiment 3, a female and a male subject presented a dichromatic performance compatible to that one registered in previous experiments. In this Experiment, a female participant presented a trichromatic performance compatible to that one registered in previous experiments. It was concluded that favorable conditions for assessment of color vision in platyrrhines species can be built involving equipment and software with low financial cost and easy to program. However, due the few number of sessions with the low financial cost equipment, it is suggested the replication of the Experiment 3 and more sessions should be made with more subjects and involving new stimuli arrangement. It is believed that, if new data confirm the data produced here, this equipment and procedure can be used for evaluation of others platyrrhines species where behavioral data are scarce.