The Perception of Linear Gestalten by Rat and Monkey: Sensory Sensitivity or the Perception of Structure?

Abstract

Four experiments on rats and squirrel monkeys are reported which show that the well-known transposition by animals to continuous from broken or interrupted line stimuli, first reported by Krechevsky, is attributable to their failure to transfer from simultaneous to successive discrimination of dot patterns. When given appropriate successive discrimination training, however, monkeys reverse their original preference and select dot instead of continuous line stimuli.