The cuttlefish showed the same self-control as a chimpanzee. Photo: Dr. Alexandra Schnell’s research team
– A study found that cuttlefish showed the level of self-control of chimpanzees and crows in the’Marshmallow Test’.
According to the Marine Biology Laboratory at the University of Chicago (MBL), a research team led by Dr. Alexandra Schnell of the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge, conducted an experiment with cuttlefish at MBL, was conducted in the UK’s Proceedings of the Royal Society B Announced on.
The research team developed and tested the cuttlefish version of the’Marshmallow Test’, which was developed to test children’s self-control. This test involves choosing whether to eat one marshmallow right away, or wait a little longer and then eat two.
As a result, cuttlefish showed self-control to wait up to 50-130 seconds for better rewards even with food in front of their eyes. The research team explained that this is equivalent to chimpanzees, crows, and parrots, which are large vertebrates.
In addition, cuttlefish, which endured longer for great rewards even after feeding in front of them, showed higher learning power. In repeated experiments, the research team determined that long-suffering cuttlefish adapted to food rewards faster. The research team said, “The cuttlefish that learns quickly was better in exercising self-control.”
The researchers pointed out that the cuttlefish was the first to reveal a correlation between self-control and intelligence in animals other than humans and chimpanzees.
The research team said that cuttlefish may have delayed satisfaction characteristics because they are camouflaged for survival. However, the research team could not accurately suggest how cuttlefish got such restraint.
Dr. Schnell said, “The cuttlefish spend most of their time waiting for their prey in a disguised state, and then when they snatch food, they loosen their stomach for a while.” But at this time, they are exposed to predators targeting the cuttlefish. It could have evolved into a “.
Reporter Han Young-hye [email protected] 
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