Common marmosets are sensitive to simple dependencies at variable distances in an artificial grammar.

ABSTRACT: Recognizing that two elements within a sequence of variable length depend on each other is a key ability in understanding the structure of language and music. Perception of such interdependencies has previously been documented in chimpanzees in the visual domain and in human infants and common squirrel monkeys with auditory playback experiments, but it remains unclear whether it typifies primates in general. Here, we investigated the ability of common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) to recognize and respond to such dependencies. We tested subjects in a familiarization-discrimination playback experiment using stimuli composed of pure tones that either conformed or did not conform to a grammatical rule. After familiarization to sequences with dependencies, marmosets spontaneously discr

SUBMITTER: Reber SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6472617 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature