Tuesday, November 15, 2016

What happens when you reward monkeys unfairly?

4 comments:

  1. The experiment of the capuchins monkeys is a very interesting one and it brings forward the notion of fairness and compassion across human behavior. Perhaps, monkeys realized that competitive behavior for the same reward is a disadvantage in their cognitive thinking process. One can say that humans are very similar is this cognitive behavior as many of us expect to be rewarded equally across the board, regardless of gender, religion, color, weight, height, etc.
    In the one hand, we find that the rewarding process by which equal elements of competing have expectations of getting the same level of return as their counterparts, however, this is not always the case since humans usually yield the effect of higher standards. In the other hand, we find that human adaptability process can sometimes be determine by current needs base on its surroundings. For instance, people tend to adjust their finances base on needs in particular those that have limited resources to survive. In the other hand, individuals that have extensive amount of resources balance themselves better in relation to expenses and income, yet they are able to have better balancing of their financial planning process because their ratio of expenses to income is much lower than their counterparts.

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  2. Throwing his "paycheck" back is good for the company. No metaphor can be perfect. Adelyn

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  3. love this video. This is why you have to run a fair and balanced classroom.

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  4. Although this experiment was quite humorous there is a fundamental lesson to learn. When presenting uneven rewards to two or more parties, a reaction of great distaste results once the other(s) are made aware of the higher valued reward. This reaction to unfairness is not only evident in human beings but also found in many animal species (Capuchin Monkeys, dogs, birds, chimpanzees). Fair rewarding is essential to keep all parties involved satisfied, unsatisfactory rewarding creates unsatisfactory behavior. Discrimination has caused quite the uproar for human beings so to see animals react similarly is fascinating. Equality is a deep rooted right of animals and the expectation to be treated equally is heavily embedded in the cognitive wiring of both animal as human beings. Studies have been done for many years to show that the reaction to unequal pay will agitate the animal once made aware of the inequity. What is impressive is that the initial reward is only accepted before the unfairness of the higher reward is presented. All animal and human beings alike have the right to be treated with compassion, empathy, fairness and equal reciprocity. This is also seen in companies with the employee being made aware that someone with their same qualifications, years of experience, and job responsibility and or title is somehow being paid more. The knowledge that the pay for them is less creates employee dissatisfaction, it takes a toll on not only their internal happiness but this also tends to effect their job performance unfavorably. Knowing that the rewarding process differs creates this toxic dissatisfaction… interestingly enough, not only for employees but similarly shown here with animals.

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