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Sensitivity to "sunk costs" in mice, rats, and humans.


ABSTRACT: Sunk costs are irrecoverable investments that should not influence decisions, because decisions should be made on the basis of expected future consequences. Both human and nonhuman animals can show sensitivity to sunk costs, but reports from across species are inconsistent. In a temporal context, a sensitivity to sunk costs arises when an individual resists ending an activity, even if it seems unproductive, because of the time already invested. In two parallel foraging tasks that we designed, we found that mice, rats, and humans show similar sensitivities to sunk costs in their decision-making. Unexpectedly, sensitivity to time invested accrued only after an initial decision had been made. These findings suggest that sensitivity to temporal sunk costs lies in a vulnerability distinct from deliberation processes and that this distinction is present across species.

SUBMITTER: Sweis BM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6377599 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Sensitivity to "sunk costs" in mice, rats, and humans.

Sweis Brian M BM   Abram Samantha V SV   Schmidt Brandy J BJ   Seeland Kelsey D KD   MacDonald Angus W AW   Thomas Mark J MJ   Redish A David AD  

Science (New York, N.Y.) 20180701 6398


Sunk costs are irrecoverable investments that should not influence decisions, because decisions should be made on the basis of expected future consequences. Both human and nonhuman animals can show sensitivity to sunk costs, but reports from across species are inconsistent. In a temporal context, a sensitivity to sunk costs arises when an individual resists ending an activity, even if it seems unproductive, because of the time already invested. In two parallel foraging tasks that we designed, we  ...[more]

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