State-dependent valuation learning in fish: Banded tetras prefer stimuli associated with greater past deprivation

Aw, Justine; Holbrook, Robert I.; Perera, Theresa Burt de; Kacelnik, Alex

doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2008.09.002

Cited by 45 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…As measured by the proportion of responses on either alternative during the 20 choice test trials, all twelve subjects significantly preferred to respond to the colored key that had been correlated with food under high deprivation, and this preference was exhibited when tested under both high and low deprivation levels. Similar results have been reported with replications using locusts (Pompilio et al, 2006), pigeons (Vasconcelos and Urcuioli, 2008), and fish (Aw et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 91%

The effect of the magnitude of the food deprivation motivating operation on free operant preference in mice

Lewon

Hayes

2015

Behavioural Processes

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 91%

The effect of the magnitude of the food deprivation motivating operation on free operant preference in mice

Lewon

Hayes

2015

Behavioural Processes

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“…The mechanism(s) underlying our observed choice of familiar diet is unknown, but these findings open up numerous possibilities for future research focused on mechanisms of learning such as cognitive biases, neophobia [17], decision rules in complex environment [3] and the modelling of the proximate architecture of decision-making [18]. Seemingly irrational decisions in animals can result from cognitive biases such as state-dependent valuation learning, in which individuals prefer options previously found to be rewarding when in a state of need (reviewed in [3,19]). The presumed differences in nutritional value of rotten versus fresh crickets (based on our observation of reduced survival) suggest that individuals fed rotten cricket diets were likely under nutritional stress.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Costly learning: preference for familiar food persists despite negative impact on survival

et al. 2016

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Animals often rely on events in their environment that provide information (i.e. experience) to alter their future decision-making in ways that are presumed to be beneficial. Such experience-based learning, however, does not always lead to adaptive decision-making. In this study, we use the omnivorous harvestman Heteromitobates discolor to explore the role of past diet on subsequent food choice and survival. We first tested whether a short-term homogeneous diet (rotten crickets, fresh crickets or dog food) influenced subsequent food choice (rotten cricket versus fresh cricket). We next examine the impact of diet on survival. We found that following experience with a homogeneous cricket diet, adult harvestmen displayed a learned preference for familiar food, regardless of whether it was rotten or fresh crickets; individuals experiencing dog food were equally likely to choose rotten versus fresh crickets. We additionally found that individuals that ate rotten crickets suffered shorter survival than those that ate fresh crickets. Together, our results suggest that the diet an individual experiences can lead to maladaptive food preferences-preferences that ultimately result in reduced longevity.

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“…The point we are making for learning can underlie observed irrationalities such as the Concorde (in evolutionary biology) or Sunk Cost (in economics) fallacies [6]–[8] and ‘within-trial contrast’ in experimental psychology [9], [10]. To elaborate this point, consider how an unwarranted preference can be caused by learning history: consuming two prey of equal body mass causes the same energy gain and should be treated indifferently, but if typically one of them has higher searching costs, the costly one would have been experienced under greater need and would elicit a memory for higher hedonic impact [11]–[18], leading to it being preferred. The rationale can be extended to the effect of context.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Context-Dependent Preferences in Starlings: Linking Ecology, Foraging and Choice

2013

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Foraging animals typically encounter opportunities that they either pursue or skip, but occasionally meet several alternatives simultaneously. Behavioural ecologists predict preferences using absolute properties of each option, while decision theorists focus on relative evaluations at the time of choice. We use European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) to integrate ecological reasoning with decision models, linking and testing hypotheses for value acquisition and choice mechanism. We hypothesise that options' values depend jointly on absolute attributes, learning context, and subject's state. In simultaneous choices, preference could result either from comparing subjective values using deliberation time, or from processing each alternative independently, without relative comparisons. The combination of the value acquisition hypothesis and independent processing at choice time has been called the Sequential Choice Model. We test this model with options equated in absolute properties to exclude the possibility of preference being built at the time of choice. Starlings learned to obtain food by responding to four stimuli in two contexts. In context [AB], they encountered options A5 or B10 in random alternation; in context [CD], they met C10 or D20. Delay to food is denoted, in seconds, by the suffixes. Observed latency to respond (Li) to each option alone (our measure of value) ranked thus: LA≈LC

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State-dependent valuation learning in fish: Banded tetras prefer stimuli associated with greater past deprivation

Cited by 45 publications

References 15 publications

The effect of the magnitude of the food deprivation motivating operation on free operant preference in mice

The effect of the magnitude of the food deprivation motivating operation on free operant preference in mice

Costly learning: preference for familiar food persists despite negative impact on survival

Context-Dependent Preferences in Starlings: Linking Ecology, Foraging and Choice

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