WEBVTT - Do Monkeys Have Superstitions?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogel bomb here. Imagine your hours into a late

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<v Speaker 1>night poker match. Hold up in the basement of a

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<v Speaker 1>sketchy watering hole where tensions are rising. You know you

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<v Speaker 1>should quit while you're ahead, but you just can't bring

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<v Speaker 1>yourself to leave any possible winnings on the table. The

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<v Speaker 1>streak has gone on so long it's like you can't lose,

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<v Speaker 1>except you do. One bad card deals you a killer blow.

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<v Speaker 1>The spell is broken and your hot hand is gone.

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<v Speaker 1>Unfortunately it never existed in the first place. Researchers have

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<v Speaker 1>taken great pains to prove that the hot hand bias

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<v Speaker 1>is exactly that a bias. It's humans innate predisposition that

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<v Speaker 1>makes us believe we see patterns, including winning or losing

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<v Speaker 1>streaks where none exist, especially when preservation or gain are involved.

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<v Speaker 1>Now we know that monkeys have the same superstitious bias too.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh and they really love to gamble. It seems we

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<v Speaker 1>species have more in common than us to the of

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<v Speaker 1>our DNA. During a study by researchers at Clarkston University

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<v Speaker 1>and the University of Rochester, ess monkeys played a fast

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<v Speaker 1>paced computer game with built in rewards. Correctly guess the

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<v Speaker 1>next step in the pattern, get a treat. However, even

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<v Speaker 1>when the sequence was random, the monkeys gambled like they

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<v Speaker 1>were on a winning streak, showing a false belief in

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<v Speaker 1>their run of good luck. Despite being given multiple opportunities

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<v Speaker 1>to rehearse a different scenario, the monkeys stuck to the

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<v Speaker 1>patterns they perceived to be winning ones. Gambling monkeys hell

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<v Speaker 1>bent on a hot hand is one thing. Figuring out

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<v Speaker 1>why they share our pension for these patterns is another.

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<v Speaker 1>A researcher's point to the odds of finding food in

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<v Speaker 1>a monkey's natural habitat. If a monkey finds a plump

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<v Speaker 1>beetle under tree bark once, it's a clue that he

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<v Speaker 1>should check nearby trees too. If he finds another beetle nearby,

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<v Speaker 1>it reinforces a pattern that the monkey will probably repeat

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<v Speaker 1>the next time he's hungry, even though he may never

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<v Speaker 1>find another beetle the next twenty times he looks. It

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<v Speaker 1>seems neither monkeys nor humans ever really make decisions that

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<v Speaker 1>are free from bias, and we don't even recognize that

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<v Speaker 1>we're doing it. Take the process by which some humans

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<v Speaker 1>decide to invest in a particular stock. A stock that

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<v Speaker 1>rises one day is never guaranteed to rise the next,

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<v Speaker 1>or ever again. Yet we believe that if a stock

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<v Speaker 1>went up once, it will do it again, and so

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<v Speaker 1>surely that will be the most logical investment. This belief

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<v Speaker 1>in winning and losing streaks may not be solely a

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<v Speaker 1>product of life experiences, as was previously thought, Because we

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<v Speaker 1>share the superstition with monkeys. Scientists think there may be

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<v Speaker 1>a genetic component to it and hope that further research

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<v Speaker 1>could lead to new approaches to treating gambling addiction, insight

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<v Speaker 1>into decision making theory, and more. Today's episode was written

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<v Speaker 1>by Laurie L. Dove and produced by Tristan McNeil. For

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<v Speaker 1>more on this and tons of other psychological topics, visit

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<v Speaker 1>our home planet, how Stuff Works dot com.