Primates vs. Sea Lions: Who Has Better Self-Control?

Primates and sea lions are very different species living in totally different environments, but when it comes to their mental and physical abilities, both areclosely related. A lot has been studied on primate behavior and their cognitive abilities, but not much has been done on the sea lions’. In this study conducted, researchers were curious of which of the two mammalian species would have better self-control and used better judgment when it came to making decisions about choosing food.

In the first experiments, they wanted to test if each were capable of assessing the ability to learn continuous reverse-reward tasks. This meaning that they would have to choose from two options presented in front of them. There would be the lower quantity food of 1 fish with in return of being chosen, received a higher quantity of 5 fish. If they first chose the higher quantity of 5 fish first, then they received the lower amount of 1. All of the sea lion subjects learned to conduct the correct responses. The previous primate tests that were conducted much before the sea lions, consisted of primates including, orang-utans, chimpanzees, and cottontop tamarins, who all also succeeded in the choosing of more quantity food options. The tests were repeated many times over a long period of time in order to test that they were actually learning it as a generalization and not just from the recent training.

The results in both the primates and sea lions were very similar showing that they were each successful in making the right choices most of the time for receiving more food as a reward. To answer the question to this experiment, the species with the better ability for self-control would be the sea lion according to the testing results. Suggestions to their performance in these reverse-reward tasks may be due to their food searching strategies in natural habitats. They hunt alone therefore have little competition and less need to go with the impulsive decision of choosing more food first. Most primates do live in highly socialized groups but still have the capability of self-control and cognitive skills. Overall, they are both truly amazing animals.

Posted by KDB (5).