by Kate
18. October 2010 11:00
A recent study involving pigeons has shown that the urge to gamble is a natural habit of animals.
A University of Kentucky study, overseen by Psychology Professor Thomas Zentall, has shown that pigeons seem to have the same instincts t gamble as humans do.
In the study, pigeons were allowed to peck at a choice of lights with the reward being in the form of food pellets being dropped out. One the left hand side, the pigeons would peck and get either a red or a green light and, after a short waiting period, the red light would release ten food pellets while the green light wouldn’t release any pellets.
Meanwhile, on the right hand side a similar process was conducted except the lights were blue and yellow and both colours on this side released three pellets for every peck.
This means that the odds for the left side were 20%, less than the right side, but more rewarding if the pigeon got lucky. The pigeons chose to peck the left side more than the right – choosing risk for higher reward over the guaranteed 3 every time.
So there it is, gambling is not necessarily a blight of society – it is a natural instinct. Perhaps it is the devices used to market and encourage gambling that is the blight, not the actual gambling itself.