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Mirror guided behavior in Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata fuscata)

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Abstract

Two male Japanese monkeys were trained to use a mirror to reach an object that could not be seen directly. Training to use a mirror in this way proceeded, step-by-step, from reaching a piece of apple to key-tracking. In Experiment 1 the monkeys were trained to use the mirror to locate a desired object, a piece of apple in a box facing the mirror, which could be seen only by looking into the mirror. The apple, once located, however, could be grasped without further reference to the mirror. This behavior is referred to as mirror mediated object discrimination. In subsequent experiments the monkeys could not reach the goal object except by observing it and his hand movement in the mirror. In Experiment 2 the target was a piece of apple visible in the mirror, in Experiment 3 an illuminated key and in Experiment 4 a series of keys which were illuminated sequentially. Mirror guided behavior such as shown in Experiment 2, 3, and 4 has not previously been demonstrated in monkeys.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, 484, Inuyama, Aichi, Japan

    Shoji Itakura

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  1. Shoji Itakura
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Itakura, S. Mirror guided behavior in Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata fuscata). Primates 28, 149–161 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02382568

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02382568

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