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标题：Are Monkeys Sensitive to the Regularity of Pay-off?
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作者：Steelandt, Sophie ; Broihanne, Marie-Hélène ; Thierry, Bernard 等
期刊名称：International Journal of Comparative Psychology
印刷版ISSN：0889-3667
出版年度：2011
卷号：24
期号：3
页码：272-283
出版社：University of California Press
摘要：Animals commonly face fluctuations in their environment and resources.To maximize their benefits,they need to integrate the risks attached to potential pay-offs.We do not know, however, to what extent individuals account for irregularity in the latter.We tested the sensitivity of monkeys (Cebusapella, Macaca tonkeana, M.fascicularis) to the irregularity of pay-offs in two different tasks.In a first experiment, the subjects were given an exchange task where the reward probability varied between different conditions, but yielded the same average pay-off.There was no evidence of subjects favoring either condition, meaning that they behaved in accordance with the predictions ofthe classical decision theory (Expected Utility Theory).In a second experiment, we offered to subjects a choice between two options involving different pay-off regularity.In this case, a wide range of inter-individual variation was found in the choices of individuals.Whereas monkeys accepted irregular pay-off in a rational way, there were individual biases in their preferences.These results indicate that the preferences of animals in a risky situation were not unequivocally shaped by the environment in which species have evolved.
关键词：International Journal of Comparative Psychology; Behavior; Behaviour; Communication; Vocalization; Comparative Psychology; Behavioral Taxonomy; Cognition; Cognitive Processes; Utility; Payoff; Risk Sensitivity; Monkeys