Monkey Money: What Happens When You Give Monkeys Silver Coins?

Vocabulary Review

Exchange (v.) to give something and receive something in return

Example: I exchanged my old phone for a newer model.

Edible (adj.) safe or suitable to eat

Example: These berries look nice, but are they edible?

Breakthrough (n.) an important discovery or success

Example: The new medicine was a major breakthrough in cancer treatment.

Fundamentals (n.) the basic principles or foundations of something

Example: Before investing, you should understand the fundamentals of finance.

Whereas (conj.) in contrast; while

Example: She prefers coffee, whereas I prefer tea.

Perceived (v./adj.) believed or understood in a particular way

Example: The change was perceived as unfair by employees.

Delayed gratification (n. phrase) the ability to wait for a bigger reward instead of taking a smaller one now

Example: Saving money instead of spending it immediately shows delayed gratification.

Prudent (adj.) careful and wise in making decisions

Example: It is prudent to save money for emergencies.

Gambling (n./v.) risking money on an uncertain outcome

Example: Gambling can become dangerous if it turns into an addiction.

Guaranteed (adj.) certain to happen; promised

Example: There is no guaranteed success in business.

Double-or-nothing (n./adj.) a risky choice where you either win twice as much or lose everything

Example: He made a double-or-nothing bet during the final round.

Instincts (n.) natural behaviors or reactions that are not learned

Example: A baby’s instinct is to cry when it is hungry.

Monkey Money: What Monkeys Do With Money?

Psychologists have a long history of experimenting with monkeys, but they are not the only ones who like to study their behaviors. Economist Keith Chen, from Yale University, created an experiment to see how monkeys would behave if they were introduced to the concept of money. Chen wanted to find out whether human economic instincts are shaped through culture or if they are a result of our biology.

At first, Chen spent 6 months trying to get the monkeys to understand the value of money. He began by giving the monkeys silver coins, which they would then be able to exchange for food. At first, the monkey would quickly throw the coins out of their cages once realizing they were not edible, but eventually they caught on that the silver coins were worth extra food. This was a major breakthrough.

Once the monkeys understood that the silver coins had value, they would then be given a selection of food to choose from. At this stage the monkeys would consistently choose the same food and drink items, among these, grapes were the most popular with the monkeys.

The monkeys were then taught the different prices of certain foods through repetitive transactions. In the beginning, only 1 coin would be exchanged and they would receive different quantities; the monkeys quickly understood that certain foods were a better deal and they would choose those foods which were cheaper. This resulted in the monkeys choosing foods like Jell-O, which they originally refused to buy, instead of grapes, which was previously their favorite option. At this stage, the monkeys are showing signs of understanding economic fundamentals, such as cost-value comparison.

As the experiment continued, researchers decided to test how monkeys would respond to loss. To do this, two sellers would present two slices of apples, the monkeys would receive one apple slice in exchange for one coin. One seller would give only one of the two apple slices to the monkeys, whereas the other seller would give the monkey both slices of apple, but take one back. While both sellers charge the same price, the monkeys would only buy from the first seller because buying from the second seller was perceived as a loss. The monkeys were reacting emotionally, just like humans.

Monkeys, interestingly, showed that they understood the concept of saving, which we might refer to as delayed gratification. Just like humans, monkeys understood that saving coins for the future would be more prudent than unnecessarily spending coins they don’t need to spend. On the other hand, however, some monkeys were also willingly taking risks and gambling. When researchers created a system that offered either a guaranteed quantity of food or a chance of receiving double or nothing, some monkeys consistently chose to gamble and take the double-or-nothing option.

However, the experiment was terminated early after researchers decided that the monkey habitat had gone into chaos. For instance, when monkeys were tested to see how they would respond to seeing other monkeys get better deals for the same price, they became violent, pounding the floor and throwing their food at the researchers. One monkey named Trader even escaped his habitat and stole all of the coins for the experiment, after which, he fled back into the cage and refused to give back the coins until he received treats. Researchers referred to this incident as the monkey bank robbery. Finally, researchers observed that certain male monkeys were exchanging coins with female monkeys for sex, effectively creating a system of prostitution. 

Researchers concluded that many of our economic decisions may not be entirely shaped by culture or society alone. The monkeys were never taught about risk, loss, or delayed gratification, yet they behaved much like humans. This points to the idea that a lot of our financial instincts may be built into our brains as a result of our evolution.

Conversation:

• What was most surprising in this article?

• Why did the experiment end early?

• In the experiment, the monkeys became violent when they saw someone else getting a better deal, do you think humans would react the same way?

  
  

• In the article, it mentioned that some monkeys started saving coins but  other monkeys started gambling. Considering this, do you think some people are just naturally good or naturally bad with money?

• Do you think the monkeys would be taught how to invest?

• Do you think monkeys have similar emotions to humans?

  
  

• Would you say that you are frugal or reckless when it comes to money?

• Do you think children should learn about money in school?

• Have you ever bought something that you later regretted?

• Some monkeys learned that saving money is better than spending it. Do you agree, or is it better to enjoy life now and spend what you have?

• Why do you think some people enjoy taking risks?

• Why is gambling addictive for some people?

• Do you think governments should ban gambling?

• Would the world be better with or without money?