The evolutionary origins of human patience: temporal preferences in chimpanzees, bonobos, and human adults.

@article{citeulike:2188557, abstract = {To make adaptive choices, individuals must sometimes exhibit patience, forgoing immediate benefits to acquire more valuable future rewards [1-3]. Although humans account for future consequences when making temporal decisions [4], many animal species wait only a few seconds for delayed benefits [5-10]. Current research thus suggests a phylogenetic gap between patient humans and impulsive, present-oriented animals [9, 11], a distinction with implications for our understanding of economic decision making [12] and the origins of human cooperation [13]. On the basis of a series of experimental results, we reject this conclusion. First, bonobos (Pan paniscus) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) exhibit a degree of patience not seen in other animals tested thus far. Second, humans are less willing to wait for food rewards than are chimpanzees. Third, humans are more willing to wait for monetary rewards than for food, and show the highest degree of patience only in response to decisions about money involving low opportunity costs. These findings suggest that core components of the capacity for future-oriented decisions evolved before the human lineage diverged from apes. Moreover, the different levels of patience that humans exhibit might be driven by fundamental differences in the mechanisms representing biological versus abstract rewards.}, address = {Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig D-04103, Germany. alexandra.rosati@duke.edu}, author = {Rosati, A. G. and Stevens, J. R. and Hare, B. and Hauser, M. D. }, citeulike-article-id = {2188557}, doi = {10.1016/j.cub.2007.08.033}, issn = {0960-9822}, journal = {Curr Biol}, keywords = {discounting, evolution, human, nonhuman, primate, temporal}, month = {October}, number = {19}, pages = {1663--1668}, posted-at = {2008-01-02 15:55:52}, priority = {4}, title = {The evolutionary origins of human patience: temporal preferences in chimpanzees, bonobos, and human adults.}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2007.08.033}, volume = {17}, year = {2007} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2188557 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2188557 TI - The evolutionary origins of human patience: temporal preferences in chimpanzees, bonobos, and human adults. JF - Curr Biol VL - 17 IS - 19 SP - 1663 EP - 1668 AD - Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig D-04103, Germany. alexandra.rosati@duke.edu SN - 0960-9822 N2 - To make adaptive choices, individuals must sometimes exhibit patience, forgoing immediate benefits to acquire more valuable future rewards [1-3]. Although humans account for future consequences when making temporal decisions [4], many animal species wait only a few seconds for delayed benefits [5-10]. Current research thus suggests a phylogenetic gap between patient humans and impulsive, present-oriented animals [9, 11], a distinction with implications for our understanding of economic decision making [12] and the origins of human cooperation [13]. On the basis of a series of experimental results, we reject this conclusion. First, bonobos (Pan paniscus) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) exhibit a degree of patience not seen in other animals tested thus far. Second, humans are less willing to wait for food rewards than are chimpanzees. Third, humans are more willing to wait for monetary rewards than for food, and show the highest degree of patience only in response to decisions about money involving low opportunity costs. These findings suggest that core components of the capacity for future-oriented decisions evolved before the human lineage diverged from apes. Moreover, the different levels of patience that humans exhibit might be driven by fundamental differences in the mechanisms representing biological versus abstract rewards. KW - discounting KW - evolution KW - human KW - nonhuman KW - primate KW - temporal AU - Rosati, AG AU - Stevens, JR AU - Hare, B AU - Hauser, MD PY - 2007/10/09/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2007.08.033 ER -