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Reduced risk-seeking in chimpanzees in a zero-outcome game.
Stefanie Keupp1,2, Sebastian Grueneisen3,4, Elliot A Ludvig1
1Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, University Road, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK.
Summary
Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) were found to be risk-neutral to risk-avoidant, contrary to previous assumptions. Their individual risk preferences remained stable across different experimental measures.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral economics
- Primate cognition
- Decision-making
Background:
- Economic decisions involve integrating reward outcomes and probabilities.
- Risky choice in many species is influenced by outcome magnitude, success probability, and extreme outcomes.
- Chimpanzees are typically considered risk-seeking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if setting the non-preferred outcome to zero alters chimpanzee risk preferences.
- To determine the stability of individual risk preferences across different measures.
- To explore factors influencing risk-seeking behavior in chimpanzees.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments were conducted with 23 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).
- Chimpanzees' choices between options with varying rewards and probabilities were analyzed.
- Individual risk preferences were assessed using two distinct measurement methods.
Main Results:
- Chimpanzees, as a group, exhibited risk-neutral to risk-avoidant behavior.
- Individual risk preferences demonstrated high stability across the two measures.
- The possibility of receiving no reward appeared to reduce risk-seeking tendencies.
Conclusions:
- Chimpanzee risk preferences can be malleable, influenced by experimental parameters and individual differences.
- Categorizing an entire species as strictly risk-seeking or risk-avoidant may be an oversimplification.
- Further research is needed to understand the nuances of economic behavior in non-human primates.
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