Elevated arousal at time of decision-making is not the arbiter of risk avoidance in chickens.

ABSTRACT: The somatic marker hypothesis proposes that humans recall previously experienced physiological responses to aid decision-making under uncertainty. However, little is known about the mechanisms used by non-human animals to integrate risk perception with predicted gains and losses. We monitored the behaviour and physiology of chickens when the choice between a high-gain (large food quantity), high-risk (1 in 4 probability of receiving an air-puff) option (HGRAP) or a low-gain (small food quantity), no-risk (of an air-puff) (LGNAP) option. We assessed when arousal increased by considering different stages of the decision-making process (baseline, viewing, anticipation, reward periods) and investigated whether autonomic responses influenced choice outcome both immediately and in the subsequent

SUBMITTER: Davies AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4314631 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature