Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Human group behavior: the ideal free distribution in a three-patch situation.

M B C Sokolowski1, F Tonneau

  • 1Faculté de Philosophie, Sciences Humaines et Sociales, Université de Picardie-Jules Verne, Chemin du Thil, Amiens Cedex 1, France. michel.sokolowski@u-picardie.fr

Behavioural Processes
|March 5, 2004
PubMed
Summary

College students

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Standard principles, nonstandard data, and unsolved issues.

Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior·2006
Same author

The ideal free distribution in humans: an experimental test.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2002
Same author

Preference between variable-ratio and fixed-ratio schedules: local and extended relations.

Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior·1996
See all related articles

Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Economics
  • Cognitive Psychology

Background:

  • Ideal Free Distribution theory predicts how individuals allocate choices based on resource availability.
  • Previous research indicates human performance in resource allocation tasks often deviates from theoretical predictions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if group foraging behavior in humans tracks the ratio of winning tokens across different patches.
  • To assess the degree to which human group choice undermatches or overmatches resource availability.

Main Methods:

  • 15 college students participated in a task involving choices among three colored patches (blue, red, green).
  • The number of winning tokens for each color was systematically varied across experimental phases.
  • Group choices were recorded and analyzed in relation to the token ratios.

Main Results:

  • Group choices were sensitive to the available resources (winning tokens).
  • However, the group's choices consistently undermatched the actual ratio of winning tokens.
  • The difference-equalization rule provided a good fit for the observed group behavior.

Conclusions:

  • Human group foraging behavior is influenced by resource availability but does not perfectly match theoretical ideal free distributions.
  • The findings support the applicability of the difference-equalization rule in explaining human resource allocation strategies.
  • This study contributes to understanding decision-making in environments with variable rewards.

Related Experiment Videos