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 t...

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Autores principales:	Julia Watzek, Sarah F. Brosnan
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2020
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/057988557d1546a899a4b5f89942b98d
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:057988557d1546a899a4b5f89942b98d2021-12-02T16:08:37ZCapuchin and rhesus monkeys show sunk cost effects in a psychomotor task10.1038/s41598-020-77301-w2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/057988557d1546a899a4b5f89942b98d2020-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-77301-whttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract 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 especially rhesus macaques persisted to trial completion even when it was suboptimal, and were more likely to complete the trial the longer they had already tracked the target. These effects were less pronounced, although still present, when the change in expected tracking duration was signalled visually. These results show that sunk cost effects can arise in the absence of human-unique factors and may emerge, in part, because persisting can resolve uncertainty.Julia WatzekSarah F. BrosnanNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2020)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Julia Watzek Sarah F. Brosnan Capuchin and rhesus monkeys show sunk cost effects in a psychomotor task
description	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 especially rhesus macaques persisted to trial completion even when it was suboptimal, and were more likely to complete the trial the longer they had already tracked the target. These effects were less pronounced, although still present, when the change in expected tracking duration was signalled visually. These results show that sunk cost effects can arise in the absence of human-unique factors and may emerge, in part, because persisting can resolve uncertainty.
format	article
author	Julia Watzek Sarah F. Brosnan
author_facet	Julia Watzek Sarah F. Brosnan
author_sort	Julia Watzek
title	Capuchin and rhesus monkeys show sunk cost effects in a psychomotor task
title_short	Capuchin and rhesus monkeys show sunk cost effects in a psychomotor task
title_full	Capuchin and rhesus monkeys show sunk cost effects in a psychomotor task
title_fullStr	Capuchin and rhesus monkeys show sunk cost effects in a psychomotor task
title_full_unstemmed	Capuchin and rhesus monkeys show sunk cost effects in a psychomotor task
title_sort	capuchin and rhesus monkeys show sunk cost effects in a psychomotor task
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2020
url	https://doaj.org/article/057988557d1546a899a4b5f89942b98d
work_keys_str_mv	AT juliawatzek capuchinandrhesusmonkeysshowsunkcosteffectsinapsychomotortask AT sarahfbrosnan capuchinandrhesusmonkeysshowsunkcosteffectsinapsychomotortask
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Capuchin and rhesus monkeys show sunk cost effects in a psychomotor task

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