Michael Beran

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Papers by Michael Beran

Consistently Inconsistent Perceptual Illusions in Nonhuman Primates: The Importance of Individual Differences

Animals

Perceptual illusions, and especially visual illusions, are of great interest not only to scientis... more Perceptual illusions, and especially visual illusions, are of great interest not only to scientists, but to all people who experience them. From a scientific perspective, illusory visual experiences are informative about the nature of visual processes and the translation of sensory experiences to perceptual information that can then be used to guide behavior. It has been widely reported that some nonhuman species share these illusory experiences with humans. However, it is consistently the case that not all members of a species experience illusions in the same way. In fact, individual differences in susceptibility may be more typical than universal experiences of any given illusion. Focusing on research with the same nonhuman primates who were given a variety of perceptual illusion tasks, this “consistent inconsistency” is clearly evident. Additionally, this can even be true in assessments of human illusory experiences. Individual differences in susceptibility offer an important ave...

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Congratulations to Animal Cognition on its 50th birthday! Some thoughts on the last 50 years of animal cognition research

Animal Cognition

I’ll (not) take that: The reverse-reward contingency task as a test of self-control and inhibition

Learning & Behavior

Would Animals Pass a Version of the Marshmallow Test

Are the roots of human economic systems shared with non-human primates?

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 2020

We review and analyze evidence for an evolutionary rooting of human economic behaviors and organi... more We review and analyze evidence for an evolutionary rooting of human economic behaviors and organization in non-human primates. Rather than focusing on the direct application of economic models that a priori account for animal decision behavior, we adopt an inductive definition of economic behavior in terms of the contribution of individual cognitive capacities to the provision of resources within an exchange structure. We spell out to what extent non-human primates' individual and strategic decision behaviors are shared with humans. We focus on the ability to trade, through barter or token-mediated exchanges, as a landmark of an economic system among members of the same species. It is an open question why only humans have reached a high level of economic sophistication. While primates have many of the necessary cognitive abilities (symbolic and computational) in isolation, one plausible issue we identify is the limits in exerting cognitive control to combine several sources of information. The difference between human and non-human primates' economies might well then be in degree rather than kind.

Rhesus monkeys (< xh: i> Macaca mulatta</xh: i>) enumerate large and small sequentially presented sets of items using analog numerical representations

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior …, 2007

1. Two rhesus monkeys selected the larger of two sequentially presented sets of items on a comput... more

$Research paper thumbnail of Do Social Conditions Affect Capuchin Monkeys\u27 (Cebus apella) Choices in a Quantity Judgment Task?$

Do Social Conditions Affect Capuchin Monkeys\u27 (Cebus apella) Choices in a Quantity Judgment Task?

Beran et al. (2012) reported that capuchin monkeys closely matched the performance of humans in a... more Beran et al. (2012) reported that capuchin monkeys closely matched the performance of humans in a quantity judgment test in which information was incomplete but a judgment still had to be made. In each test session, subjects first made quantity judgments between two known options. Then, they made choices where only one option was visible. Both humans and capuchin monkeys were guided by past outcomes, as they shifted from select- ing a known option to selecting an unknown option at the point at which the known option went from being more than the average rate of return to less than the average rate of return from earlier choices in the test session. Here, we expanded this assessment of what guides quantity judgment choice behavior in the face of incomplete information to include manipulations to the unselected quantity. We manipulated the unchosen set in two ways: first, we showed the monkeys what they did not get (the unchosen set), anticipating that “losses” would weigh heavily on ...

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Do I know what you know, or do I only know what you do? Animal mind reading versus behavior reading

PsycCRITIQUES, 2012

Grammar rule-based sequence learning by rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta)

Human Maze Learning

PsycTESTS Dataset, 2009

Other Tests of Self-Control and Delay of Gratification in Animals

Self-Control in Animals and People

Since 1989 the Swedish Standard for blasting induced vibrations has been based primarily on dista... more Since 1989 the Swedish Standard for blasting induced vibrations has been based primarily on distance and overburden. However, there is an uncertainty about the fundamentals which the Standard is based on, making room for optimization. The thesis aims to evaluate the Swedish Standard for blasting induced vibrations, by studying velocity-and frequency response of the governing parameters of wave propagation. A parametric study with numerical models was conducted using finite element method. The parametric study was divided into material and geometrical properties such as degree of saturation, Poisson's ratio, Young's modulus, depth of overburden layer, distance from blast ,and angle of incidence. A poroelastic material model was created by coupling the elastic properties of the solid material with the water stored within the porous structure. The poroelastic material model resulted in velocity-and frequency responses which were comparable with the guidance levels of the Swedish Standard. In conclusion, distance and overburden are applicable parameters. However, the blasting induced vibration is sensitive to changes in degree of saturation, Poisson's ratio, depth of the overburden surface layer, and to the angle of incidence. As the distance between the blast and the measurement point increases, the frequency range in the vibration was lowered and the risk for damage increases, as buildings are more susceptible to damage at lower frequencies. The P-wave is dominant if the blast is located below the building, however, if the angle of incidence changes, the Rayleigh wave becomes dominant. The frequency response of the Rayleigh wave is lower than for P-waves, thus guidance levels may be set differently depending on which is the dominant wave. A frequency based analysis generates the possibility to combine distance, overburden, material-, geometrical-and possible unidentified parameters, thus simplifying the method of establishing guidance levels for blasting induced vibrations in the soil structure.

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Counting

Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior

Charles R. Menzel

Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior

Varieties of Self-Control

Self-Control in Animals and People

Zöllner Illusion

Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior

Size Illusion

Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior

Preschool Children, Fluency, and Metacognition

Monkey Cognitive Bias

Exploring Potential Mechanisms Underlying the Lack of Uncertainty Monitoring in Capuchin Monkeys

International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 2015

In a widely used animal-metacognition paradigm, monkeys are positively reinforced with food for c... more In a widely used animal-metacognition paradigm, monkeys are positively reinforced with food for correct classifications of stimuli as sparse or dense and punished with timeouts for incorrect responses, but they also have access to an uncertainty response that moves them to the next trial without either of these forms of feedback. Rhesus monkeys use this uncertainty response most often for trials on which they are at greatest risk for making an error, suggesting that they are monitoring their ability to make these classifications. Capuchin monkeys do not succeed to the same degree on these tasks -conceivably as a result of differential contingencies in place in all existing studies between the sparse/dense responses (food delivery or timeout) and the uncertainty response (avoidance of a timeout but also no chance for food reward). Here, we used a novel variation of this task in which the outcomes of the three response classes (sparse, dense, uncertain) were functionally equivalent. All responses simply determined the delay interval before presentation of a second task (matching-to-sample), and that task yielded potential food rewards. Overall, capuchin monkeys used the dense and sparse responses appropriately, including some animals that had no prior experience in performing this classification task. However, none used the uncertainty response appropriately even when it was placed on the same contingency plane as the dense and sparse responses. This suggests that the failure of capuchin monkeys to use an uncertainty response is not the result of that response producing a qualitatively different outcome compared to the dense and sparse responses.

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Planning

Consistently Inconsistent Perceptual Illusions in Nonhuman Primates: The Importance of Individual Differences

Animals

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Congratulations to Animal Cognition on its 50th birthday! Some thoughts on the last 50 years of animal cognition research

Animal Cognition

I’ll (not) take that: The reverse-reward contingency task as a test of self-control and inhibition

Learning & Behavior

Would Animals Pass a Version of the Marshmallow Test

Are the roots of human economic systems shared with non-human primates?

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 2020

Rhesus monkeys (< xh: i> Macaca mulatta</xh: i>) enumerate large and small sequentially presented sets of items using analog numerical representations

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior …, 2007

1. Two rhesus monkeys selected the larger of two sequentially presented sets of items on a comput... more

$Research paper thumbnail of Do Social Conditions Affect Capuchin Monkeys\u27 (Cebus apella) Choices in a Quantity Judgment Task?$

Do Social Conditions Affect Capuchin Monkeys\u27 (Cebus apella) Choices in a Quantity Judgment Task?

Download

Do I know what you know, or do I only know what you do? Animal mind reading versus behavior reading

PsycCRITIQUES, 2012

Grammar rule-based sequence learning by rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta)

Human Maze Learning

PsycTESTS Dataset, 2009

Other Tests of Self-Control and Delay of Gratification in Animals

Self-Control in Animals and People