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 Concept Videos

Instinctive Drift01:05

Instinctive Drift

542
Instinctive drift refers to the tendency of animals to revert to their innate behaviors despite repeated reinforcement. Breland and Breland demonstrated this concept in an experiment with a raccoon. The raccoon was trained to pick up two coins and place them in a container in exchange for food. Initially, the raccoon learned to associate the coins with food, making them a conditioned stimulus or a substitute for food. However, over time, the raccoon became less willing to put the coins into the...
542
Timing and Consequences on Behavior01:08

Timing and Consequences on Behavior

274
In operant conditioning, the timing of reinforcement is crucial. For animals like rats and cats, immediate reinforcement (within a few seconds) is much more effective than delayed reinforcement. For example, a food reward for a rat needs to follow within 30 seconds of pressing a bar to be effective. 
Humans, however, can respond to delayed reinforcers. We often make decisions between immediate small rewards and delayed larger rewards. This ability to delay gratification is a significant...
274
Frequency-dependent Selection01:21

Frequency-dependent Selection

22.9K
When the fitness of a trait is influenced by how common it is (i.e., its frequency) relative to different traits within a population, this is referred to as frequency-dependent selection. Frequency-dependent selection may occur between species or within a single species. This type of selection can either be positive—with more common phenotypes having higher fitness—or negative, with rarer phenotypes conferring increased fitness.
22.9K
Causes of Social Behavior III: Biological and Environmental Influences01:28

Causes of Social Behavior III: Biological and Environmental Influences

168
Social behavior is a complex phenomenon that arises from the interaction between biological predispositions and environmental influences. This intricate interplay shapes how individuals think, feel, and act in various social contexts. Understanding these mechanisms requires insights from psychology, neuroscience, genetics, and evolutionary theory.Environmental Influences on Social BehaviorEnvironmental factors, including temperature, odors, and visual stimuli, play a crucial role in shaping...
168
Life Histories01:29

Life Histories

22.3K
Overview
22.3K
What is Behavior?00:54

What is Behavior?

9.9K
Behaviors are actions that an organism engages in—they can be related to finding food, reproducing, defending against threats, and many other possible actions. Behaviors include activities related to the environment around the animal—such as migration—as well as social interactions within a species or population. Many behaviors involve motor output—that is, muscle movements—while others involve less visible actions, such as learning.
9.9K

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by
Same author

Temperature-Dependent Pupation Depth in the Oriental Fruit Fly <i>Bactrocera dorsalis</i> and Its Implications for Biological Control.

Insects·2024
Same author

Searching of Underground Host Patches by a Pupal Parasitoid.

Environmental entomology·2022
Same author

Intraindividual variability in behavior shapes fitness landscapes.

Ecology and evolution·2020
Same author

Census timing alters stage duration distributions in matrix population models.

Ecology and evolution·2019
Same author

Density-dependent distribution of parasitism risk among underground hosts.

Bulletin of entomological research·2018
Same author

Stage duration distributions in matrix population models.

Ecology and evolution·2018

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 17, 2025

Automated, Quantitative Cognitive/Behavioral Screening of Mice: For Genetics, Pharmacology, Animal Cognition and Undergraduate Instruction
16:23

Automated, Quantitative Cognitive/Behavioral Screening of Mice: For Genetics, Pharmacology, Animal Cognition and Undergraduate Instruction

Published on: February 26, 2014

14.8K

State-dependent mortality can enhance behavioral unpredictability.

Toshinori Okuyama1

  • 1Department of Entomology, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd., Taipei, 106, Taiwan. okuyama@ntu.edu.tw.

BMC Ecology
|June 27, 2020
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Behavioral unpredictability in foraging can be adaptive, especially when mortality risk depends on an animal's state. This variability can positively or negatively impact fitness depending on environmental conditions and state-dependent mortality.

Keywords:
ForagingRisk-sensitivityStochastic dynamic programmingWithin-individual variation

More Related Videos

Author Spotlight: Exploring Microglial Interactions with Stress-Response Circuitry Using the Limited Bedding and Nesting Model
04:20

Author Spotlight: Exploring Microglial Interactions with Stress-Response Circuitry Using the Limited Bedding and Nesting Model

Published on: July 12, 2024

2.3K
An Unpredictable Chronic Mild Stress Protocol for Instigating Depressive Symptoms, Behavioral Changes and Negative Health Outcomes in Rodents
06:55

An Unpredictable Chronic Mild Stress Protocol for Instigating Depressive Symptoms, Behavioral Changes and Negative Health Outcomes in Rodents

Published on: December 2, 2015

23.2K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Dec 17, 2025

Automated, Quantitative Cognitive/Behavioral Screening of Mice: For Genetics, Pharmacology, Animal Cognition and Undergraduate Instruction
16:23

Automated, Quantitative Cognitive/Behavioral Screening of Mice: For Genetics, Pharmacology, Animal Cognition and Undergraduate Instruction

Published on: February 26, 2014

14.8K
Author Spotlight: Exploring Microglial Interactions with Stress-Response Circuitry Using the Limited Bedding and Nesting Model
04:20

Author Spotlight: Exploring Microglial Interactions with Stress-Response Circuitry Using the Limited Bedding and Nesting Model

Published on: July 12, 2024

2.3K
An Unpredictable Chronic Mild Stress Protocol for Instigating Depressive Symptoms, Behavioral Changes and Negative Health Outcomes in Rodents
06:55

An Unpredictable Chronic Mild Stress Protocol for Instigating Depressive Symptoms, Behavioral Changes and Negative Health Outcomes in Rodents

Published on: December 2, 2015

23.2K

Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Ecology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Animal Behavior

Background:

  • Behavioral unpredictability, a facet of within-individual variability, lacks a clear understanding of its adaptive significance.
  • Foraging behavior variability is crucial for survival and reproduction in many species.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the conditions under which behavioral unpredictability in foraging is advantageous.
  • To explore the role of state-dependent mortality in the adaptive value of behavioral variability.

Main Methods:

  • A dynamic state variable model was employed to simulate foraging behavior over discrete time steps.
  • The model incorporated state changes (e.g., energy reserves), state-dependent mortality, and reproduction.
  • The backward iteration method was used to determine the relationship between state and fitness.

Main Results:

  • State-dependent mortality introduces curvature into the state-fitness relationship, influencing the effect of behavioral unpredictability.
  • Behavioral unpredictability can have either a positive or negative impact on fitness, contingent on state-dependent mortality.
  • These findings apply broadly as long as mortality is not independent of the animal's state.

Conclusions:

  • Conditions favoring behavioral unpredictability are likely common, particularly when mortality is linked to behaviorally influenced states.
  • The adaptive significance of behavioral unpredictability depends on its impact on both the expectation and variability of foraging outcomes.