What animals were involved in the fairness experiment?

The experiment involved capuchin monkeys, and has also been done with dogs, birds, and chimpanzees.

What was the task given to the capuchin monkeys?

The monkeys had to give a rock to the experimenter to receive a food reward.

What foods were used in the experiment?

Cucumbers and grapes were used, with grapes being the preferred reward.

Why is cucumber considered less valuable than grapes to the monkeys?

Cucumbers are less tasty than grapes and are just considered like water by the speaker, whereas grapes are more desirable.

How did the monkeys react to receiving unequal rewards?

The monkey that received cucumber threw it back in protest after seeing its partner receive grapes.

Why was the experiment videotaped with new monkeys?

To see if monkeys unfamiliar with the task would have a stronger reaction to inequity.

What does the monkey's reaction symbolize according to the speaker?

The reaction was likened to a Wall Street protest, indicating discontent with unequal treatment.

Was the cucumber accepted by the monkeys initially?

Yes, the first piece of cucumber was accepted and eaten by the monkey.

How did the test conditions ensure the monkeys were aware of the unequal treatment?

Monkeys were placed side by side and could see what reward their partner received.

What is the significance of this fairness study?

It highlights how non-human animals can understand and react to fairness and inequity.

Two Monkeys Were Paid Unequally: Excerpt from Frans de Waal's TED Talk

00:02:44

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meiU6TxysCg

Summary

TLDRThis video describes a well-known fairness study initially conducted with capuchin monkeys, which has since been replicated with various animals such as dogs, birds, and chimpanzees. In the experiment, two capuchin monkeys perform a simple task and receive food rewards. When both get cucumber as a reward, they are satisfied, but when one sees the other receiving a more desirable reward, grapes, it expresses dissatisfaction by throwing the cucumber. This behavior indicates an awareness of inequity. The researcher compares this reaction to a protest, suggesting a strong sense of fairness within these animals.

Takeaways

🐵 Capuchin monkeys understand fairness and react to inequity.
🍇 Grapes are preferred over cucumbers by the monkeys.
🪨 The task involved giving a rock for a reward.
📹 The experiment was recorded for accurate observation.
🐶 Similar tests were conducted on other animals.
👫 Monkeys work side by side, observing each other's rewards.
😡 Discontent is shown when unequal treatment occurs.
🏦 The protest is likened to financial equity issues.
🔍 New monkeys were tested to observe fresh reactions.
🦧 This study shows animals' awareness of social justice.
👀 The monkeys' reactions are visible and poignant.
🔄 Repeated trials were done to confirm consistency.

Timeline

00:00:00 - 00:02:44
A fairness experiment was conducted with capuchin monkeys to study their reactions to inequity. Monkeys were given tasks and rewards, with some receiving cucumbers and others grapes, which are preferred. The experiment showed that when a monkey receiving cucumbers observed another receiving grapes, it exhibited signs of protest due to the perceived unfairness. The experiment has been done with other animals like dogs and birds, validating the cross-species significance of fairness perception.

Mind Map

Video Q&A

What animals were involved in the fairness experiment?
The experiment involved capuchin monkeys, and has also been done with dogs, birds, and chimpanzees.
What was the task given to the capuchin monkeys?
The monkeys had to give a rock to the experimenter to receive a food reward.
What foods were used in the experiment?
Cucumbers and grapes were used, with grapes being the preferred reward.
Why is cucumber considered less valuable than grapes to the monkeys?
Cucumbers are less tasty than grapes and are just considered like water by the speaker, whereas grapes are more desirable.
How did the monkeys react to receiving unequal rewards?
The monkey that received cucumber threw it back in protest after seeing its partner receive grapes.
Why was the experiment videotaped with new monkeys?
To see if monkeys unfamiliar with the task would have a stronger reaction to inequity.
What does the monkey's reaction symbolize according to the speaker?
The reaction was likened to a Wall Street protest, indicating discontent with unequal treatment.
Was the cucumber accepted by the monkeys initially?
Yes, the first piece of cucumber was accepted and eaten by the monkey.
How did the test conditions ensure the monkeys were aware of the unequal treatment?
Monkeys were placed side by side and could see what reward their partner received.
What is the significance of this fairness study?
It highlights how non-human animals can understand and react to fairness and inequity.

View more video summaries

Get instant access to free YouTube video summaries powered by AI!

Subtitles

Auto Scroll:

00:00:00
so a final experiment that I want to
00:00:02
mention to you is our fairness study and
00:00:05
so this this became a very famous study
00:00:08
and there's now many more because after
00:00:10
we did this about 10 years ago uh it
00:00:12
became very well known and we did that
00:00:14
originally with capuchin monkeys and I'm
00:00:16
going to show you the first experiment
00:00:18
that we did it has now been done with
00:00:20
dogs and with birds and with chimpanzees
00:00:24
umizara Blossom we started out with
00:00:26
capuchin monkeys
00:00:28
so what we did is we put two capuchin
00:00:31
monkeys side by side again these animals
00:00:33
they live in a group they know each
00:00:34
other we take them out of the group put
00:00:35
them in a test chamber and there's a
00:00:39
very simple task that they need to do
00:00:40
and if you give both of them cucumber
00:00:43
for the task the two monkeys side by
00:00:45
side they're perfectly willing to do
00:00:47
this 25 times in a row so cucumber even
00:00:49
though it's really only water in my
00:00:51
opinion but cucumber is perfectly fine
00:00:54
for them now if you give the partner
00:00:56
grapes the food preferences of my
00:00:59
capuchin monkeys correspond exactly with
00:01:01
the prices in the supermarket and so if
00:01:04
you give them grapes it's a far better
00:01:05
food than you create inequity between
00:01:08
them
00:01:09
so that's the experiment we did recently
00:01:11
we videotaped it with new monkeys who
00:01:13
had never done the task is thinking that
00:01:15
maybe they would have a stronger
00:01:16
reaction and that turned out to be right
00:01:17
the one on the left is a monkey who gets
00:01:20
cucumber the one on the right is the one
00:01:22
who gets scrapes the one who gets
00:01:24
cucumber note that the first piece of
00:01:26
cucumber is perfectly fine the first
00:01:28
piece he eats
00:01:29
and then she sees the other one getting
00:01:31
grape and you will see what happens
00:01:33
so she gives a rock to us that's the
00:01:35
task and we give her a piece of cucumber
00:01:38
and she eats it the other one needs to
00:01:40
give a rock to us
00:01:42
and that's what she does
00:01:45
and she gets a grape
00:01:48
and she said the other one sees that
00:01:50
she gives a rock to verse now gets again
00:01:52
cucumber
00:02:12
she tests her Rock now against the wall
00:02:15
she needs to give it to us
00:02:17
and she gets cucumber again
00:02:29
so this is basically the Wall Street
00:02:31
protest that you see here