Memory Monitoring by Animals and Humans

The authors asked whether animals and humans would usesimilarly an uncertain response to escape indeterminate memories.Monkeys and humans performed serial probe recognition tasks thatproduced differential memory difficulty across serial positions(e.g., primacy and recency effects). Participants were given anescape option that let them avoid any trials they wished and receivea hint to the trial's answer. Across species, across tasks, and evenacross conspecifics with sharper or duller memories, monkeys andhumans used the escape option selectively when more indeterminatememory traces were probed. Their pattern of escaping always mirroredthe pattern of their primary memory performance across serialpositions. Signal-detection analyses confirm the similarity of theanimals' and humans' performances. Optimality analyses assess theirefficiency. Several aspects of monkeys' performance suggest thecognitive sophistication of their decisions to escape.