Delay of gratification in non-human animals: A review of inter-specific variation in performance

Abstract

AbstractThe ability to regulate and withhold an immediate behaviour in pursuit of a more preferred or valuable, albeit delayed, outcome is regarded as an important cognitive ability enabling adaptive decision-making in both social and asocial contexts. Abilities to cope with a delay in gratification have been investigated in a range of species using a variety of experimental paradigms. The present study attempts a first systematic evaluation of available experimental data from non-human animals, which is an essential basis for quantifying biological and non-biological factors (e.g. socio-ecology versus experimental design) affecting performance in delay of gratification tasks. Data were sourced from 52 separate studies, and a comprehensive overview of the available literature on delay of gratification in non-human animals is presented. We present data from 21 species, spanning across eight taxonomic order, with 1–9 species tested per taxonomic group. We highlight variation in experimental paradigms used to study delay of gratification abilities in non-human animals, both with regard to reward type or experimental setup, and discuss the implications for comparative analyses. We conclude that, at present, cross-species comparisons of delay of gratification abilities are hindered by a lack of consistency in experimental designs and low number of species tested across taxonomic orders. We hope to stimulate research on a more diverse set of species, and that future studies consider potential social and ecological factors that cause intra-specific variation in test performances, that is repeatedly seen across species.