Comparative Cognition Unit, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University Vienna, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Sci Rep. 2017 Nov 17;7(1):15802. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-16087-w.
Inequity aversion is thought to act as a mechanism to ensure cooperation and has been studied in many different species, consistently revealing inter-individual variation. Inhibitory control has been proposed to act as one factor responsible for this variation since individuals need to inhibit performing the required action and/or refuse rewards in order to exhibit inequity aversion. Here, we investigated if dogs' sensitivity to inequity is affected by their capacity for inhibitory control, assessed in a test battery and questionnaire. Overall, dogs showing high compulsivity scores (i.e. repetitive behaviours independent of feedback) were more motivated to participate in the inequity task independent of the rewarding scheme. Dogs were more sensitive to inequity and individual contrast if they exhibited a slower decision speed in the inhibition tasks. Furthermore, less persistent and more impulsive dogs were more sensitive to reward inequity, potentially due to having a lower tolerance level for frustration. Results indicate that aspects of inhibitory control can explain the variation in dogs' inequity response, highlighting one of the mechanisms underlying responses to inequity. Emphasising the importance to design paradigms, which allow us to disentangle capacities to recognise inequity from the inability to react to it due to poor inhibitory control abilities.
不公平厌恶被认为是一种确保合作的机制，已经在许多不同的物种中进行了研究，一致揭示了个体间的变异。抑制控制被认为是导致这种变异的一个因素，因为个体需要抑制执行所需的动作和/或拒绝奖励，以表现出不公平厌恶。在这里，我们研究了狗对不公平的敏感性是否受到抑制控制能力的影响，这种能力在测试电池和问卷中进行了评估。总的来说，表现出高强迫性得分（即独立于反馈的重复行为）的狗在不受奖励计划影响的情况下，更有动力参与不公平任务。如果狗在抑制任务中表现出较慢的决策速度，它们对不公平和个体对比就更敏感。此外，冲动性较低、冲动性较低的狗对奖励不公平更敏感，这可能是因为它们对挫折的容忍度较低。研究结果表明，抑制控制的某些方面可以解释狗对不公平反应的变异，强调了对不公平反应的潜在机制之一。强调设计范式的重要性，这些范式允许我们将识别不公平的能力与由于抑制控制能力差而无法对不公平做出反应的能力区分开来。
