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- Study shows monkeys capable of weighing up the choices they face and even show mild risk-taking behavior
- Gambling monkeys received a sip of blackcurrant juice every time they successfully completed the task – by picking the correct object on-screen
- Ladder experiment with wider rung gaps resulted in more of the blackcurrant juice treat and were most often selected by the primates despite existence of less risky options
- Monkeys made specific and coherent choices between gambles of different rewards
The study, conducted by Professor Wolfram Schultz at the University of Cambridge and his team and published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, discovered that when food is introduced, monkeys are able to weigh up the choices they face and even show mild risk-taking behavior.
From the Daily Mail:
In experiments involving a spot of monkey gambling, primates preferred highly variable gambles with a larger pay-out, showing they understood what was as stake and that they may have stable beliefs.
In the study, two Rhesus monkeys were offered a choice between objects on a computer screen, moving a joystick left or right to choose. The objects were ladder-shaped figures, with different distance between the 'rungs'.
Gambling monkeys received a sip of blackcurrant juice every time they successfully completed the task – by picking the correct object on-screen.
But in later tasks, researchers upped the ante. In a second round of experiments, the monkeys were presented with a choice between ladders with different distances between their rungs.
The greater the gap, the more juice they would receive as a reward.
However, these figures were skewed so that when there were two rungs above the gap it had a worse outcome than when there were two rungs below the gap. And when the gaps between rungs were equal, it was seen as a safe bet.
What the researchers determined was that monkeys consistently opted for figures with a wider gap, which resulted in a larger volume of the blackcurrant juice treat.
According to the team, the study also demonstrates that the monkeys made specific and coherent choices between gambles of different rewards.
They add that the primates' choices suggest they may display stable beliefs, consistent preferences, and mild risk-seeking behaviour.
Professor Schultz told MailOnline: 'I don't know whether the monkeys have an idea in the human sense, but their behaviour demonstrates an amazing and sophisticated sensitivity to specific forms of risk.
'Their behaviour shows that the mathematical definitions of risk are good descriptors of behaviour even in animals.
'This is exactly what we need to say that human behaviour in risky situations seems to be built-in by nature and is not just the product of some education.'
He added: 'If such risk sensitivities exist in animals, they are also constraints on human behaviour, with which we have to deal.'
The study demonstrates that by avoiding risk an animal can be kept from harm, but by passing up a risky option, this may also result in potentially passing up a big payoff.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
