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詼諧的語(yǔ)言，生動(dòng)的內(nèi)容一分鐘快速掌握科技最新動(dòng)態(tài)

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Pigeons Gamble on Unlikely Jackpot over Small Sure Things

Blackjack, slot machines, good ol’ Texas hold’em. People love to gamble. And we’re not the only ones. A new study shows that pigeons will also pass up a sure thing in the hopes of a big payoff. The work appears in the Proceedings of the Royal Society.

二十一點(diǎn)、吃角子老虎機(jī)和德州撲克——人們都喜歡賭博，但喜歡賭博的不只是人。一項(xiàng)新研究顯示，鴿子也會(huì)為了獲得更大的回報(bào)而放棄一些近在眼前的好處。這項(xiàng)研究刊登在《皇家科學(xué)月刊》上。

Theories about foraging say that animals should stick with the proverbial bird in the hand, especially when it comes to food. Eating is key to survival, so clever critters shouldn’t take unnecessary chances. But these new findings suggest that pigeons don’t always play it safe.

覓食理論告訴我們，動(dòng)物會(huì)貫徹所謂的“一鳥在手勝于雙鳥在林”這種諺語(yǔ)，面對(duì)食物時(shí)更是堅(jiān)定不移。吃東西是生存的關(guān)鍵，因此聰明的動(dòng)物不會(huì)冒不必要的險(xiǎn)。但是新的研究表示鴿子并不會(huì)總是謹(jǐn)慎行事。

Scientists set up an avian casino in which pigeons could place their bets on one of two symbols. Peck at symbol 1 and you get three food pellets. Never more, never less. Symbol 2 was the wildcard. Choose that one and 20 percent of the time, you’ll hit the jackpot: 10 food pellets. The rest of the time you’ll get nothing. But the lure of the big win was too hard to resist: pigeons chose to gamble more than 80 percent of the time, even though, on average, that path paid out fewer pellets.

科學(xué)家們搭建了一個(gè)空中賭場(chǎng)，讓鴿子們?cè)趦蓚€(gè)標(biāo)志之間“下賭注”。在標(biāo)志1處，鴿子可以啄食三粒食物，就三顆，不多也不少。而標(biāo)志2處是個(gè)未知領(lǐng)域。如果選擇了這個(gè)地方，鴿子就有20%的可能中頭獎(jiǎng)：得到十粒食物。其余80%的情況則不會(huì)得到任何東西。但是頭獎(jiǎng)的誘惑太難抵擋了：80%的情況下鴿子都會(huì)選擇賭一把。雖然這個(gè)選擇平均來(lái)講得到的食物更少。

Perhaps it’s the joy of a pleasant surprise. Because even for a literal bird brain, hitting the lottery is a hoot.

可能這是個(gè)讓人感到愉悅的驚喜。因?yàn)榫退阍邙B兒那毫無(wú)想象力的腦袋瓜里面，賭博都是一個(gè)誘人的犯罪。

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