THE EFFECTS OF EARLY REARING ON RESPONSE TO NOVELTY AND THE SOLUTION OF A SIMPLE PSYCHOMOTOR LEARNING TASK. |
| P. Pierre; T. Nicholson and S. J. Suomi National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Laboratory of Comparative Ethology, P.O. Box 529, Poolesville, MD, 20837 |
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| Infant monkeys reared in peer groups or with inanimate surrogates show deficits in social and affiliative behavior compared to mother-reared counterparts. It has been suggested that the behavioral deficits associated with these rearing conditions contribute to diminished problem-solving abilities of nursery-reared subjects. The purpose of this investigation was to assess the effect of different rearing conditions on responsiveness to and acquisition of a simple psychomotor task early in development. Eight (4 peer-reared and 4 surrogate-peer-reared), 3-5 month old, infant rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) served as subjects. We measured initial interactions following the introduction of a “novel” perch and found peer-reared monkeys took longer to contact this novel component of environment as compared to surrogate-peer-reared monkeys (T(6)=5.19, p<.001). By using a finger maze in an effort to differentiate motor maturational components of responding from problem-solving ability, we found peer-reared monkeys took longer than their surrogate peer reared counterparts to contact the maze (T(6)=4.27,p<.001). Similarly, the surrogate-peer- reared monkeys also made more attempts to retrieve a pellet from the maze (T(6)=4.48, p<.001). Regardless of rearing condition, all monkeys were able to solve the task within four, 20 min trials. Taken together, these data provide a framework for further assessment of individual and between-group differences in responsiveness of animals with different rearing experiences. |
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