Information gathering and decision making about resource value in animal contests

@article{citeulike:2949407, abstract = {Contestants are predicted to adjust the cost of a fight in line with the perceived value of the resource and this provides a way of determining whether the resource has been assessed. An assessment of resource value is predicted to alter an animal's motivational state and we note different methods of measuring that state. We provide a categorical framework in which the degree of resource assessment may be evaluated and also note limitations of various approaches. We place studies in six categories: (1) cases of no assessment, (2) cases of internal state such as hunger influencing apparent value, (3) cases of the contestants differing in assessment ability, (4) cases of mutual and equal assessment of value, (5) cases where opponents differ in resource value and (6) cases of particularly complex assessment abilities that involve a comparison of the value of two resources. We examine the extent to which these studies support game theory predictions and suggest future areas of research.}, author = {Arnott, Gareth and Elwood, Robert W. }, citeulike-article-id = {2949407}, doi = {10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.04.019}, journal = {Animal Behaviour}, keywords = {assessment, contest, review}, posted-at = {2008-07-01 23:12:22}, priority = {2}, title = {Information gathering and decision making about resource value in animal contests}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.04.019}, volume = {In Press, Corrected Proof} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2949407 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2949407 TI - Information gathering and decision making about resource value in animal contests JF - Animal Behaviour VL - In Press, Corrected Proof N2 - Contestants are predicted to adjust the cost of a fight in line with the perceived value of the resource and this provides a way of determining whether the resource has been assessed. An assessment of resource value is predicted to alter an animal's motivational state and we note different methods of measuring that state. We provide a categorical framework in which the degree of resource assessment may be evaluated and also note limitations of various approaches. We place studies in six categories: (1) cases of no assessment, (2) cases of internal state such as hunger influencing apparent value, (3) cases of the contestants differing in assessment ability, (4) cases of mutual and equal assessment of value, (5) cases where opponents differ in resource value and (6) cases of particularly complex assessment abilities that involve a comparison of the value of two resources. We examine the extent to which these studies support game theory predictions and suggest future areas of research. KW - assessment KW - contest KW - review AU - Arnott, Gareth AU - Elwood, Robert UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.04.019 ER -