The Library
Reward context determines risky choice in pigeons and humans
Tools
Ludvig, Elliot Andrew, Madan, Christopher R., Pisklak, Jeffrey M. and Spetch, Marcia Louise (2014) Reward context determines risky choice in pigeons and humans. Biology Letters, Volume 10 (Number 8). Article Number 20140451. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2014.0451 ISSN 1744-9561.
|
PDF
WRAP_Ludvig_rsbl20140451.pdf - Published Version - Requires a PDF viewer. Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (457Kb) | Preview |
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2014.0451
Abstract
Whereas humans are risk averse for monetary gains, other animals can be risk seeking for food rewards, especially when faced with variable delays or under significant deprivation. A key difference between these findings is that humans are often explicitly told about the risky options, whereas non-human animals must learn about them from their own experience. We tested pigeons (Columba livia) and humans in formally identical choice tasks where all outcomes were learned from experience. Both species were more risk seeking for larger rewards than for smaller ones. The data suggest that the largest and smallest rewards experienced are overweighted in risky choice. This observed bias towards extreme outcomes represents a key step towards a consilience of these two disparate literatures, identifying common features that drive risky choice across phyla.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology | ||||||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Psychology | ||||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Risk taking (Psychology), Decision making, Psychology, Comparative, Gambling | ||||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Biology Letters | ||||||||
Publisher: | Royal Society | ||||||||
ISSN: | 1744-9561 | ||||||||
Official Date: | August 2014 | ||||||||
Dates: |
|
||||||||
Volume: | Volume 10 | ||||||||
Number: | Number 8 | ||||||||
Article Number: | Article Number 20140451 | ||||||||
DOI: | 10.1098/rsbl.2014.0451 | ||||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Open Access (Creative Commons) | ||||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 28 December 2015 | ||||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 28 December 2015 | ||||||||
Funder: | Alberta Gaming Research Institute (AGRI), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) |
Request changes or add full text files to a record
Repository staff actions (login required)
View Item |
Downloads
Downloads per month over past year