Learning Capacity Across Species and Age to Identify Origins of Human Uniqueness

Abstract

A core unanswered question in human development is how human learning differs from that of other primate species. Previous research has hypothesized qualitative differences in learning mechanisms between species. However, few studies have directly compared their basic learning capacities. An important factor in successful learning is the capacity to sustain a cognitive process, including attention and working memory required for the task. Here we test human children and non-human primates on a basic match-to-sample task to compare the extent to which lapse rate, quantifying inability to sustain a task, varies across species and age.