Causes of Individual Differences in Animal Exploration and Search
Numerous studies have documented individual differences in exploratory tendencies and other phenomena related to search, and these differences have been linked to fitness. Here, I discuss the origins of these differences, focusing on how experience shapes animal search and exploration. The origin of...
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Published in | Topics in cognitive science Vol. 7; no. 3; pp. 451 - 468 |
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Main Author | |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
01.07.2015
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Numerous studies have documented individual differences in exploratory tendencies and other phenomena related to search, and these differences have been linked to fitness. Here, I discuss the origins of these differences, focusing on how experience shapes animal search and exploration. The origin of individual differences will also depend upon the alternatives to exploration that are available. Given that search and exploration frequently carry significant costs, we might expect individuals to utilize cues indicating the potential net payoffs of exploration versus the exploitation of known acts. Informative cues could arise from both recent and early‐life experiences, from both the social and physical environment. Open questions are the extent to which an individual's exploratory tendencies are fixed throughout life versus being flexibly adjusted according to prevailing conditions and the actions of other individuals, and the extent to which individual differences in exploration extend across domains and are independent of other processes. |
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Bibliography: | Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) ArticleID:TOPS12148 McGill University Canada Foundation for Innovation Leaders Opportunity Fund ark:/67375/WNG-DNSW6LTS-P Utrecht University istex:DC7A9CB69B800BEED6FEA76BF338846E9541A95C ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 1756-8757 1756-8765 |
DOI: | 10.1111/tops.12148 |