Capuchin and rhesus monkeys show sunk cost effects in a psychomotor task.

ABSTRACT: Human decision-making is often swayed by irrecoverable investments even though it should only be based on future-and not past-costs and benefits. Although this sunk cost effect is widely documented and can lead to devastating losses, the underlying psychological mechanisms are unclear. To tease apart possible explanations through a comparative approach, we assessed capuchin and rhesus monkeys' susceptibility to sunk costs in a psychomotor task. Monkeys needed to track a moving target with a joystick-controlled cursor for variable durations. They could stop at any time, ending the trial without reward. To minimize the work required for a reward, monkeys should have always persisted for at least 1 s, but should have abandoned the trial if that did not yield a reward. Capuchin monkeys and esp

SUBMITTER: Watzek J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7683735 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature