Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32128384›Full record

ArticleScience advances2019

Reward associations do not explain transitive inference performance in monkeys.

Greg Jensen, Yelda Alkan, Vincent P Ferrera, Herbert S Terrace

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Science advances, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

19 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Monkeys (Macaca mulatta) rank lists using multiple cognitive mechanisms simultaneously.Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Transitive inference in a clinical childhood sample with a focus on autism spectrum disorder.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2024
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Superstitious learning of abstract order from random reinforcement.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Transitive inference after minimal training in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta).Journal of experimental psychology. Animal learning and cognition · 2021
    Article
  16. Absolute and relative knowledge of ordinal position on implied lists.Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition · 2020
    Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Greg JensenDepartment of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-5050-4360
Yelda AlkanZuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
Vincent P FerreraZuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-6599-7740
Herbert S TerraceDepartment of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.

Funding

Instrumentation, Fabrication, and Design CoreP30EY019007 · NEI · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI Xin Zhang · 2010 to 2026
$12.9M
Implicit serial learning in monkeys and humansR01MH111703 · NIMH · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI VINCENT P FERRERA, HERBERT S. TERRACE · 2018 to 2026
$5.6M
The neurophysiological basis of serial learningR01MH081153 · NIMH · COLUMBIA UNIV NEW YORK MORNINGSIDE · PI FERRERA, VINCENT P, TERRACE, HERBERT S. · 2008 to 2017
$3.2M
NEI NIH HHS P30 EY019007NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH081153NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH111703
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Most accounts of behavior in nonhuman animals assume that they make choices to maximize expected reward value. However, model-free reinforcement learning based on reward associations cannot account for choice behavior in transitive inference paradigms. We manipulated the amount of reward associated with each item of an ordered list, so that maximizing expected reward value was always in conflict with decision rules based on the implicit list order. Under such a schedule, model-free reinforcement algorithms cannot achieve high levels of accuracy, even after extensive training. Monkeys nevertheless learned to make correct rule-based choices. These results show that monkeys' performance in transitive inference paradigms is not driven solely by expected reward and that appropriate inferences are made despite discordant reward incentives. We show that their choices can be explained by an abstract, model-based representation of list order, and we provide a method for inferring the contents of such representations from observed data.

Indexed as

Models, BiologicalRewardAnimalsChoice BehaviorMacaca mulattaMale

Identifiers

PMID32128384
PMCPMC7032924

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.