Articles | Volume 11, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/pb-11-19-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/pb-11-19-2024
Research article
 | 
26 Jul 2024
Research article |  | 26 Jul 2024

The effect of reward value on the performance of long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) in a delay-of-gratification exchange task

Judit J. Stolla and Stefanie Keupp

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Cited articles

Addessi, E., Bellagamba, F., Delfino, A., De Petrillo, F., Focaroli, V., Macchitella, L., Maggiorelli, V., Pace, B., Pecora, G., Rossi, S., Sbaffi, A., Tasselli, M. I., and Paglieri, F.: Waiting by mistake: Symbolic representation of rewards modulates intertemporal choice in capuchin monkeys, preschool children and adult humans, Cognition, 130, 428–441, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2013.11.019, 2014. 
Addessi, E., Mancini, A., Crescimbene, L., and Visalberghi, E.: How social context, token value, and time course affect token exchange in capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella), Int. J. Primatol., 32, 83–98, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-010-9440-4, 2011. 
Addessi, E., Paglieri, F., Beran, M. J., Evans, T. A., Macchitella, L., De Petrillo, F., and Focaroli, V.: Delay choice versus delay maintenance: Different measures of delayed gratification in capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella), J. Comp. Psychol., 127, 392–398, https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031869, 2013. 
Aellen, M., Dufour, V., and Bshary, R.: Cleaner fish and other wrasse match primates in their ability to delay gratification, Anim. Behav., 176, 125-143, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.04.002, 2021. 
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Short summary
In the context of the ManyPrimates initiative, our long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) rarely exchanged a given food item for a larger food reward at a later time. We tested whether possession of a high-value food item affected their performance and found that macaques displayed improved abilities when the value of the exchange item is reduced. This suggests that the possession of a high-value item contributed to the low performance of the monkeys in the original exchange protocol.