Biology subjects

Benitez, M. E.

Publications and source records attributed to Benitez, M. E..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

CapuchinAI: Leveraging AI to study wild primate cognition

Advancing the study of primate cognition requires methods that preserve ecological validity while enabling the experimental control typical of laboratory research. We introduce CapuchinAI, a field-deployable touchscreen system that integrates real-time facial recognition with automated cognitive testing, providing a novel methodological framework for studying cognition in wild primates. Our approach combines a high-performing (>97% accuracy) YOLOv7-based facial recognition model (Multiple Capuchins v1.0) with a portable Raspberry Pi-driven touchscreen-reward apparatus designed for automated operation in natural habitats. The system detects approaching capuchins, initiates video recording, presents touchscreen stimuli, and dispenses food rewards contingent on task performance. During a two-week presentation to two habituated groups of wild white-faced capuchins (Cebus imitator) at the Taboga Forest Reserve, 16 individuals voluntarily interacted with the apparatus, 10 learned to trigger rewards, and 8 formed and retained robust screen-reward associations. The rapid habituation and learning rates demonstrate the feasibility of deploying AI-mediated cognitive experiments in the wild. CapuchinAI addresses several long-standing challenges in field cognition research by enabling: (1) autonomous, individualized task administration without researcher intervention; (2) standardized, repeatable trials across individuals and sessions; (3) scalable deployment across groups and sites; and (4) parallel data collection on behavior, identity, and performance. This methodology provides a blueprint for integrating machine learning, touchscreen testing, and automated reward delivery to study within- and between-individual cognitive variation under natural conditions. CapuchinAI represents a significant step toward long-term comparative research on primate cognition by making laboratory experimental paradigms accessible in the wild, bridging the gap between lab and field. Research HighlightsO_LIWe present CapuchinAI, a field-ready touchscreen testing station that uses real-time facial recognition to study cognition in wild capuchin monkeys C_LIO_LIWe developed a YOLOv7-based facial recognition model (Multiple Capuchins v1.0) that identifies individual capuchins with >97% precision and recall from static images, video, and live footage, enabling fully automated, individualized testing in the wild. C_LIO_LIWe integrated a version of this model into a closed-loop touchscreen-reward pipeline that detects an approaching monkey, presents a basic learning task, and automatically delivers food rewards based on the monkeys responses. C_LIO_LIWild capuchins rapidly habituated and learned touchscreen-reward associations, showing that AI-enabled touchscreens provide a scalable field method for deploying lab-style cognitive tests and mapping individual differences across tasks, species, and sites. C_LI

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2023

Animal Emotions and Consciousness: Researchers' Perceptions, Biases, and Prospects for Future Progress

Do animals have emotions? Scientists and philosophers have long struggled with this question, with debates ranging from whether animals experience an "internal world" to whether we are capable of studying it. Recently, theoretical, and methodological advances have rekindled this debate, yet, it is unclear where the scientific consensus on these topics lies today. To address this gap, we administered a survey of professional animal behavior researchers to assess perceptions regarding (1) the taxonomic distribution of emotions and consciousness in non-human animals, (2) respondents confidence in this assessment, and (3) attitudes towards potential for progress and possible pitfalls when addressing these questions. In general, animal behavior researchers (n=100) ascribed emotionality and consciousness to a broad swath of the animal taxa, including non-human primates, other mammals, birds, and cephalopods, with varying degrees of confidence. There was a strong positive relationship between how likely a respondent was to attribute emotions to a given taxa and their confidence in that assessment, with respondents assuming an absence of emotions and consciousness when they were unsure. In addition, respondents assessments were shaped by several traits (e.g., advanced cognitive abilities, consciousness) that they also admitted were not necessary for an animal to experience emotions. Ultimately, a large majority of researchers were optimistic that tools either currently exist or will exist in the future to rigorously address these questions (>85%) and that animal behavior, as a field, should do more to encourage emotions research (71%). We discuss implications of our findings for publication bias, ethical considerations, and identify an emergent consensus for the need of a functional definition of emotions to facilitate future work. Significance StatementEmotions and consciousness are fundamental components of human experience--these phenomena are central to our behavior, relationships, and sense of meaning. Whether these experiences are shared by non-human animals has long been a subject of philosophical and scientific debate. In this paper we describe, for the first time, results from a survey of animal behavior researchers regarding their perceptions of these questions and the ability of science to answer them. Researchers ascribe emotions and consciousness to many taxa, and their likelihood of doing was strongly predicted by phylogeny and researchers confidence in their answers. We hope these results spur additional interdisciplinary collaboration to rigorously pursue these questions and create a baseline for future comparisons to track scientific attitudes over time. O_QD"I have chosen bats instead of wasps or flounders because if one travels too far down the phylogenetic tree, people gradually shed their faith that there is experience there at all"--Thomas Nagel C_QD

animal behavior and cognition↗