Visual recognition in infant pigtailed macaques after a 24‐hour delay

Abstract

Comparative studies of memory in monkey and human subjects suggest similarities in visual recognition memory across human and nonhuman primates. In order to investigate developmental aspects of visual recognition memory in monkey infants, the familiarization‐novelty procedure, developed for use with human infants, was employed with pigtailed monkey infants to study long‐delay recognition memory. Subjects were familiarized with a black‐and‐white abstract pattern. Twenty‐four hours later they were tested with the familiar pattern paired with a novel one. Results indicated a significant visual preference for the novel stimulus, providing evidence for recognition memory. These results parallel those obtained with human infants, suggesting further similarities in the development of visual recognition memory.