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A critical review of risk-sensitive foraging
Alasdair I Houston1, Tom H Rosenström2
1School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK.
Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society
|November 21, 2023
Summary
Risk-sensitive foraging, crucial in behavioral ecology, lacks a unified explanation. Current mechanistic and evolutionary models are unconvincing, highlighting the need for empirical analysis of choice sequences to understand foraging behavior.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Ecology
- Neurophysiology
- Psychology
Background:
- Risk-sensitive foraging is defined by choices considering return variability and mean.
- It is a key concept in behavioral ecology, psychology, and neurophysiology.
- Existing explanations focus on mechanistic and evolutionary advantages.
Conclusions:
- Current mechanistic and evolutionary explanations for risk-sensitive foraging are not fully convincing.
- Empirical analysis of choice sequences in controlled settings is a promising research direction.
- Further investigation into choice sequences is needed to map the merits of existing theories.
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