For experiments using chairs, one can train macaques and squirrel monkeys to move 
voluntarily from the home cage into a chair that is used during the session (Ator, 1991). In 
one common method, monkeys wear a collar with a small metal ring attached. The monkeys 
come to accept having a chain clipped to the collar, which then is pulled through a ring at the 
top of a metal pole. Squirrel monkeys usually grasp the pole and ride to the chair on it, while 
larger monkeys, such as adult macaques, learn to walk to the chair. By holding that end of 
the pole snugly at the collar and pulling the chain down to the end of the pole, the 
experimenter can control the monkey's movements and be protected from the possibility of a 
bite in the process of training and transfer. Larger monkeys can be trained to move from the 
home cage into a smaller shuttle device that can be wheeled to the experimental chamber. 
Treats are used during the various steps of training the monkey in the transfer process and 
during habituation to sitting in a chair. The amount of time the monkey is actually seated in 
a chair or remains in an experimental chamber might be gradually extended during training. 
The monkey should not live in the chair, though. 
Just as with jacket or harness devices, animals that are restrained in a chair must be 
monitored to ensure that chafing or bruising does not occur. If ulceration or bruising should 
occur, the monkey should be removed from the study until the area is healed, and adjustments 
should be made to correct the source of the problem. As long as the investigator monitors the 
animal to ensure, among other criteria, that the restraint chair permits reasonable postural 
adjustment, does not interfere with respiration, and does not cause skin abrasions, this form 
of restraint can be used safely. The best evidence of behavioral adaptation to the 
restraint and tolerance to experimental conditions is voluntary movement into the 
device and performance of the behavioral task once there. ■ 
REFERENCES 
Anderson, J.H., and Houghton, P. (1983). The pole and collar system: A technique for 
handling and training non-human primates. Lab Animal, 12/5,47-49. 
Ator, N.A. (1991). Subjects and instrumentation. In I.H. Iversen and K.A. Lattal (Eds.), 
Techniques in the behavioral and neurological sciences (Vol. 6): Experimental analysis of 
behavior, part 1 (pp. 1-62). Amsterdam: Elsevier. 
Barrett, J.E. (1991). Behavioral neurochemistry. In I.H. Iversen and K.A. Lattal (Eds.), 
Techniques in the behavioral and neurological sciences (Vol. 6): Experimental analysis of 
behavior, part 2 (pp. 79-115). Amsterdam: Elsevier. 
Goeders, N.E., and Smith, J.E. (1987). Intracranial self-administration methodologies. 
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 11,31 9-329. 
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