Constraints on problem solving and inhibition:: Object retrieval in cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus oedipus)

Problem solving relies on a combination of the capacity to generate appropriate solutions and the ability to inhibit prepotent inappropriate responses. Often, problems with the latter prevent some animals from performing well on problem-solving tasks. The authors used the object retrieval task to examine inhibition in cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus oedipus). They found that, like human infants, tamarins had difficulty retrieving a reward from inside a transparent box when the opening was on the side because they could not inhibit the tendency to reach straight into the solid face of the box. However, subjects trained with an opaque box prior to testing on the transparent box performed perfectly. These results suggest that although the inability to inhibit prepotent biases prevents individuals from acquiring an initial strategy, sufficient training on an effective strategy may allow animals to overcome their initial difficulties with tasks requiring inhibition.