A Comparison of Positive Reinforcement Training Techniques in Owl and Squirrel Monkeys: Time Required to Train to Reliability

Rogge, Jessica; Sherenco, Katrina; Malling, Rachel; Thiele, Erica; Lambeth, Susan P.; Schapiro, Steven J.; Williams, Larry E.

doi:10.1080/10888705.2013.798223

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…learned a simple “target” behavior (touching a stationary object when presented) significantly faster than owl monkeys ( Aotus spp. ), although these species did not differ in the amount of time required to train subsequent behaviors [ 23 ]. For strepsirrhines, a study developed at the Duke Lemur Center with the Eulemur species by the first author (G.F.L.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Strepsirrhine Primate Training Programs in North American Institutions: Status and Implications for Future Welfare Assessment

Fernández-Lázaro

Dye

Eddie³

et al. 2021

Animals

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Many articles have shown the benefits of operant conditioning training techniques in the care and welfare of several species of nonhuman primates; however, the information regarding their use in strepsirrhine species is scarce. We assessed the development and current status of training programs with these species in North American institutions. An online survey was distributed through members of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums using a multiple-choice format. We collected information related to training program details; animals, behaviors, and techniques; the evaluation process; and the impact of training. Seventy-one organizations completed the survey, with the results showing that 97% of respondents trained their strepsirrhines with the main objective of husbandry and veterinary care (around 80%). Sixty-eight percent of organizations did not report any risk in training these species. The benefits reported include increases in positive human–animal interactions (97%), psychological well-being (88%), and staff awareness of animal behaviors (90%). However, a multi-dimensional approach to measure the efficacy of training could provide a deeper understanding of its impact on the welfare of strepsirrhine primates. We hope that the data offered in this survey can help in this future assessment.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…and squirrel monkeys ( Saimiri spp.) [ 23 ], mandrills ( Mandrillus sphinx ), gibbons ( Nomascus leucogenys ), siamangs ( Symphalangus syndactylus ) and colobus monkeys ( Colobus guereza ) [ 24 ], and baboons ( Papio spp.) [ 25 , 26 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strepsirrhine Primate Training Programs in North American Institutions: Status and Implications for Future Welfare Assessment

Fernández-Lázaro

Dye

Eddie³

et al. 2021

Animals

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“…PRT is a widely used tool for training animals to cooperate for husbandry or scientific purposes. It was successfully applied to train animals on entering a compartment, presenting an arm or leg for blood sampling, moderate aggressive or affiliative behavior among individuals, and as environmental enrichment (for review: Coleman and Maier 2010;Laule et al 2003;Prescott and Buchanan-Smith 2003;Rogge et al 2013;Schapiro et al 2003;Westlund 2015). PRT has also been successfully used for automated procedures to assess cognitive abilities before training in a laboratory environment (Fagot and Paleressompoulle 2009) and for automated, voluntarily performed training procedures inside the animal facility (Calapai et al 2017;Tulip et al 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emphasizing the “positive” in positive reinforcement: using nonbinary rewarding for training monkeys on cognitive tasks

Fischer

Wegener

2018

Journal of Neurophysiology

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Nonhuman primates constitute an indispensable model system for studying higher brain functions at the neurophysiological level. Studies involving these animals elucidated the neuronal mechanisms of various cognitive and executive functions, such as visual attention, working memory, and decision-making. Positive reinforcement training (PRT) constitutes the gold standard for training animals on the cognitive tasks employed in these studies. In the laboratory, PRT is usually based on application of a liquid reward as the reinforcer to strengthen the desired behavior and absence of the reward if the animal's response is wrong. By trial and error, the monkey may adapt its behavior and successfully reduce the number of error trials, and eventually learn even very sophisticated tasks. However, progress and success of the training strongly depend on reasonable error rates. If errors get too frequent, they may cause a drop in the animal's motivation to cooperate or its adaptation to high error rates and poor overall performance. We introduce in this report an alternative training regime to minimize errors and base the critical information for learning on graded rewarding. For every new task rule, the feedback to the animal is provided by different amounts of reward to distinguish the desired, optimal behavior from less optimal behavior. We applied this regime in different situations during training of visual attention tasks and analyzed behavioral performance and reaction times to evaluate its effectiveness. For both simple and complex behaviors, graded rewarding was found to constitute a powerful technique allowing for effective training without trade-off in accessible task difficulty or task performance. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Laboratory training of monkeys usually builds on providing a fixed amount of reward for the desired behavior, and no reward otherwise. We present a nonbinary, graded reward schedule to emphasize the positive, desired behavior and to keep errors on a moderate level. Using data from typical training situations, we demonstrate that graded rewards help to effectively guide the animal by success rather than errors and provide a powerful new tool for positive reinforcement training.

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“…PRT is a widely used tool for training animals to cooperate for husbandry or scientific purposes. It might be used to train animals on entering a compartment or presenting an arm or leg for blood sampling, moderate aggressive or affiliative behavior amongst individuals, or as environmental enrichment (for review: Coleman and Maier 2010;Laule et al 2003;Prescott and Buchanan-Smith 2003;Rogge et al 2013;Schapiro et al 2003;Westlund 2015). PRT has also been successfully used for automated procedures to assess cognitive abilities prior to training in a laboratory environment (Fagot and Paleressompoulle 2009), and for automated, voluntarily performed training procedures inside the animal facility (Calapai et al 2016;Tulip et al 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emphasizing the ‘positive’ in positive reinforcement: Using non-binary rewarding for training monkeys on cognitive tasks

Fischer

Wegener

2017

Preprint

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Non-human primates constitute an indispensable model system for studying higher brain functions at the neurophysiological level. They can be trained on highly demanding cognitive tasks, and studies involving these animals elucidated the neuronal mechanisms of various cognitive and executive functions, such as visual attention, working memory, and decisionmaking. The training of behavioral tasks used to study these processes builds on reinforcement learning and involves many discrete stages. It may takes several months, but frequently lasts a year or longer. The training is usually based on applying a liquid reward as the reinforcer to strengthen the desired behavior, and absence of the reward if the animal's response was wrong. We here propose an alternative, non-binary rewarding scheme that aims to minimize unrewarded behavior. We show the potential of this alternative scheme to significantly speed up the training of an animal at various stages, without trade-off in accessible task difficulty or task performance.

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A Comparison of Positive Reinforcement Training Techniques in Owl and Squirrel Monkeys: Time Required to Train to Reliability

Cited by 12 publications

References 20 publications

Strepsirrhine Primate Training Programs in North American Institutions: Status and Implications for Future Welfare Assessment

Strepsirrhine Primate Training Programs in North American Institutions: Status and Implications for Future Welfare Assessment

Emphasizing the “positive” in positive reinforcement: using nonbinary rewarding for training monkeys on cognitive tasks

Emphasizing the ‘positive’ in positive reinforcement: Using non-binary rewarding for training monkeys on cognitive tasks

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