Monday, January 16, 2012

Great apes make sophisticated decisions: Research suggests that great apes are capable of calculating the odds before taking risks

Great apes make sophisticated decisions: Research suggests that great apes are capable of calculating the odds before taking risks:

Researchers have demonstrated that apes can evaluate risks and rewards and that apes are risk averse (they demand a greater payoff to take on risky "investments").

From Science Daily reporting on a paper by Daniel Huan (and others)
"The apes were presented with two banana pieces: a smaller one, which was always reliably in the same place, and a larger one, which was hidden under one of multiple cups, and therefore the riskier choice.....The researchers also found that the apes went for the larger piece -- and risked getting nothing at all -- no less than 50% of the time. This risky decision-making increased to nearly 100% when the size difference between the two banana pieces was largest."

Maybe we have something to learn from monkeys after all: Monkey see, monkey do??
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