Biomedical subjects

Gijsbert Stoet

Publications and source records attributed to Gijsbert Stoet.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

Task preparation in macaque monkeys ( Macaca mulatta).

We investigated whether macaque monkeys possess the ability to prepare abstract tasks in advance. We trained two monkeys to use different stimulus-response (S-R) mappings. On each trial, monkeys were first informed with a visual cue which of two S-R mapping to use. Following a delay, a visual target was presented to which they would respond with a left or right button-press. We manipulated delay time between cue and target and found that performance was faster and more accurate with longer delays, suggesting that monkeys used the delay time to prepare each task in advance.

Animals↗

PubMed2003

Executive control and task-switching in monkeys.

Executive control involves concentrating on one task without losing the ability to switch to a second task at will. We studied this ability in monkeys (Macaca mulatta) performing arbitrary stimulus-response mappings in a task-switching paradigm. We found relatively low switch costs but high task interference costs. This is the reverse of the typical human pattern of relatively large switch costs and small interference costs. This difference in the behavior of the two species may reflect anatomical differences in the sizes of the prefrontal and parietal cortices. These results indicate that monkeys are an excellent model for some but not all aspects of human task-switching.

Animals↗