Experimental study on relational concept based on the relative feature of the stimuli

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25330174
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Cognitive science
• Research Institution: Keio University
• Principal Investigator: Yamazaki Yumiko 慶應義塾大学, 付置研究所, 特任教授 (20399447)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 般化 / 弁別 / 移調 / 実験心理学 / 概念

Outline of Final Research Achievements

I examined whether common marmosets could discriminate the stimulus pairs based on relative features (such as larger or smaller size). By training them using squares with different sizes, the marmosets successfully acquired the task, and showed its generalization to different sizes (transposition). Then to know whether this type of response could be generalized to novel stimulus pairs having no features in common, they were presented with five different shape pairs, together with the trained one. They responded to them based on the current relevant feature of the training stimulus, so they used relational concept of the relative sizes. When they could not use shared features, they showed relational concept more with the novel stimuli having the similar outer length from the training ones. Thus, the present study clearly illustrated the common marmosets' ability of transposition, which was able to be expanded to a relational concept of the relative size.

Free Research Field

実験心理学