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An adaptive response to uncertainty generates positive and negative contrast effects
John M McNamara1, Tim W Fawcett, Alasdair I Houston
1School of Mathematics, University of Bristol, University Walk, Bristol, UK.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|June 1, 2013
Summary
Animals perceive their environment relatively, a phenomenon explained by successive contrast effects. These effects evolve as an adaptive strategy for navigating unpredictable, changing worlds, highlighting the role of uncertainty in behavior.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Ecology
- Evolutionary Psychology
- Animal Cognition
Background:
- Successive contrast effects demonstrate that animal behavior is evaluated in relative terms.
- Current explanations focus on descriptive psychological and physiological models, neglecting evolutionary factors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the evolutionary origins of successive contrast effects.
- To model how environmental uncertainty and change can promote the evolution of contrast effects.
Main Methods:
- Developed a general optimality model to simulate adaptive responses to environmental uncertainty.
- Analyzed how various environmental change patterns influence the selection for sensitivity to past conditions.
Main Results:
- Contrast effects can arise as an adaptive response to uncertainty in unpredictable environments.
- Sensitivity to past conditions is selected for across diverse environmental change patterns.
- Positive and negative contrast effects are generated by this adaptive mechanism.
Conclusions:
- Environmental uncertainty and stochasticity are crucial factors in understanding the evolution of adaptive behavior.
- Successive contrast effects are an evolved trait for dealing with dynamic and unpredictable environments.
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