Experience that Much Work Produces Many Reinforcers Makes the Sunk Cost Fallacy in Pigeons: A Preliminary Test

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Economics
• Animal Cognition
• Decision-Making

Background:

• The sunk cost fallacy describes irrational decision-making where individuals favor a higher-cost option due to prior investment.
• This cognitive bias is well-documented in humans but less understood in non-human animals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether pigeons exhibit the sunk cost fallacy.
• To identify conditions under which pigeons demonstrate this irrational choice behavior.

Main Methods:

• Pigeons were exposed to non-choice and choice trials involving differently colored stimuli.
• Non-choice trials varied outcomes after investment in alternatives (higher-cost, lower-cost, or unrelated).
• Choice trials assessed preferences between higher-cost and lower-cost alternatives under different pre-exposure conditions.

Main Results:

• Pigeons demonstrated the sunk cost fallacy specifically when non-choice trials involved prior reinforcement for the higher-cost alternative.
• Preference for the higher-cost option increased only after experiencing positive outcomes associated with it.

Conclusions:

• The study suggests that past reinforcement experiences linked to a higher-cost alternative can induce the sunk cost fallacy in pigeons.
• This finding provides insights into the potential evolutionary or biological underpinnings of irrational economic behavior.