Date of Award
12-14-2022
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Sarah Brosnan
Second Advisor
Michael Beran
Third Advisor
Erin Tone
Abstract
Primate decision-making is often underlined by cognitive biases and how sequences are evaluated is no different. Human research shows the most salient parts of sequences are the peak and end affect experienced within them along with a preference for sequences with increasing value. However, inconsistent results from non-human primate studies deny the ability to determine if these biases are a primate-wide cognitive shorthand to quickly evaluate experiences, or if these primarily impact humans. This experiment builds on previous works and tests if tufted capuchin monkeys experience an end bias using a dichotomous manual task which allows them to choose between receiving a high reward sooner or later. Overall, capuchin monkeys preferred a higher reward at the start of a sequence, this effect only was strengthened when accounting for delay discounting. Rank and exposure to sequences were most often the best predictors for sequence preference, while sex never impacted choice.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/32649317
Recommended Citation
Saldana, Jhonatan M., "Do Monkeys Save the Best for Last? Examining Sequence Order Preference in Capuchin Monkeys." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2022.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/32649317
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