Location-specific responsiveness to environmental perturbations in wedge-capped capuchins (Cebus olivaceus)

We recorded the responses of the members of a captive group of wedge-capped capuchins to novel and familiar objects placed in different parts of their cage in a study of the spatial dependency of activity with objects. We foc used on behavioral pattern variability across subjects and across object lo cation. Results show that, according to the location of the object, a great deal of within-subject response variability exists. The dominant male was slow to interact physically with objects and presented social-like behavior s-essentially grooming-towards objects in only one site. Implicit to the et hological approach is the assumption that consistent spatially location is irrelevant or, at best, of little importance to the definition of stimuli. Nevertheless, stimuli would be best considered as perturbations insofar as the significance of an object or event depends on where and when it is enco untered. In order to evaluate how monkey cognition operates, it seems essen tial to investigate the role of the primate's own spatial structure. As a w orking hypothesis, we introduce the processes of spatial facilitation and i nhibition and suggest that they affect how an individual interacts with obj ects and events.