BIOL 354 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Bluegill, Diminishing Returns, Spatial Memory
11 Oct 2017
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Whether or not animals prefer high variability depends on the animal"s needs and the expected rewards. Might simply have its attention drawn to a task by the action of others and then learn by itself to do the thing. Behaviour involves decision making (e. g. where to search, what to eat) which has costs as well as bene ts. Individuals should be designed by natural selection to maximize their. The emphasis of this approach is on quantitative, testable predictions about the choices that will maximize tness. Often the observed behaviour deviates from the predictions of simple models: these discrepancies can then be used to re ne the model to provide a better understanding of costs, bene ts, currencies and constraints. Foragers may minimize their risk of starvation by varying their risk-taking in response to their own hunger and the mean and variability of food rewards from different choices (juncos).
