A team of researchers at the University of Minnesota has found that mice and rats, like humans, tend to make poor decisions based on “sunk costs.” In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes their study and what they found. Sarah Brosnan with Georgia State University offers a Perspective piece on the work done by the team in the same journal issue.
Most people are familiar with “sunk costs,” and some of the behaviors associated with it. One example of a sunk cost is watching a movie to the end even when you’re not enjoying it, simply because you have already invested so much time in it. Scientists study such behavior as a way of learning more about the human mind and how it works. But, perhaps equally important, do other animals have similar traits? If so, that might indicate a biological basis for our behavior. In this new effort, the researchers set up experiments to test whether mice and rats make poor choices just because they have invested time in them as well.
The experiments consisted of setting up a rodent food court with tasty pellet choices. A rat or mouse would then be introduced into the food court and observed to see how it responded. To add an element of sunk cost measurement, the researchers trained the rodents first to respond to different tones. One tone indicated how long they would have to wait for a given treat if they picked it. Another would serve as a countdown, letting them know how long they had to wait once they made a choice. The rodents were also given the option of abandoning a choice during their wait to go eat something else. The researchers found that both rats and mice would wait for a treat even if they knew a better one was available, regardless of how much waiting time lay ahead of them. They also found that the resolve of the rodents grew stronger the longer they waited. This, the researchers claim, shows that the rodents also made poor choices based on sunk costs.
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