I read the article again. The researchers simply seem to be saying that what seem like complex decisions can be made in simple organisms as long as the ability

I read the article again. The researchers simply seem to be saying that what seem like complex decisions can be made in simple organisms as long as the ability to increment a "counter" when a certain condition occurs is possible. The slot machine example actually requires a "counter" that can increase and decrease when opposing conditions occur. This seems very obvious...