[gruseom]

Presumably because avoiding the square alone wouldn't explain the preference for the third option over the second.

[mattmaroon]

Could that be just curiosity? The article didn't say how much they preferred them or for how long. Maybe mice are just gamblers by nature.

[Shamiq]

Gambling doesn't seem to serve a species well in terms of my evolutionary biological thought process.

[mattmaroon]

Then why are we where we are? We're the gamblingest species of all.

[gruseom]

Maybe mice are just gamblers by nature.

Heh. Can we think of an experiment to test that?

[mattmaroon]

Sure, same experiment as this one, but instead of introducing another rectangle for the third object, introduce a circle. If they favor that over the rectangle they're clearly gamblers.

Actually, I have a snake that eats one mouse per week. Maybe I'll slowly try this over the course of a year or so.