Monkeys playing a video game prove primates hate 'sunk costs' as much as humans do

Many people hate to walk away from a situation they've invested significant time, money or resources on, even if it's hopeless. Those wasted efforts are called'sunk costs' and the more you spend, the more you're likely to keep at it. It turns out our primate cousins act the same way, according to a new study from Georgia State University. Researchers taught dozens of monkeys to play a video game and, rather than starting over on a new level, the animals kept trying to win the same one round. In fact, they spent up to seven times as long as they should have on one round when they would have had a better chance of getting a treat just skipping ahead to the next one.