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Monkeys would rather see and do: preference for agentic control in rhesus macaques

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Abstract

Rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) engaged in a series of computerized tasks modeled on billiards and arcade games in order to determine their degree of preference for scenarios in which food rewards were contingent on their actions, as opposed to those in which outcomes appeared externally caused. Throughout these tasks, subjects showed a consistent preference for “agentic control,” a state in which goal-directed behavior is directly responsible for motivating outcomes. Other factors like the frequency and timing of reward deliveries were precisely controlled and did not explain observed preferences.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Erin Danly and the many research assistants who assisted in the collection of these data. This grant was supported by NIMH grant R01 MH051153 awarded to H. Terrace.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Columbia University, New York City, NY, USA

    Greg Jensen, Drew Altschul & Herbert Terrace

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  1. Greg Jensen
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  2. Drew Altschul
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  3. Herbert Terrace
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Correspondence to Greg Jensen.

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Jensen, G., Altschul, D. & Terrace, H. Monkeys would rather see and do: preference for agentic control in rhesus macaques. Exp Brain Res 229, 429–442 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-013-3402-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-013-3402-y

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