economic decisions + individual

Question 1

who should natural selection favour

Answer 1

individuals that make decisions that maximise their fitness
(we expect organisms to act “rationally”)

Question 2

important factors and optimal solution for foraging starlings

Answer 2

travel, searching and handling time

best performance
predicted most fledglings

Question 3

what is the marginal value theorem

Answer 3

describes the behaviour of an individual foraging in a patchy environment

Question 4

difference between starlings and honeybees?

Answer 4

currency
energy delivery (starlings)
energy efficiency (honeybee)

Question 5

how does natural selection program dung fly male reproductive behaviour

Answer 5

trade-off between % eggs fertilised and time spent copulating

Question 6

when might one choose small prey over big

Answer 6

gain from eating small > gain from searching/handling/eating large

energetic value vs handling time

Question 7

which decision is there in variable environments

Answer 7

rick-averse or risk-prone decisions

(risk of starvation becomes currency)

Question 8

why do tits store food rather than eat

Answer 8

cost of higher predation

Question 9

link between hippocampus and storage recovery

Answer 9

spatial navigation
info from short -> long-term memory

Question 10

what trade-off is seen in sticklebacks

Answer 10

feeding and danger

Hypothesis: Choosing a lower-density area is less confusing = easier to look for predators

Question 11

optimality model’s 3 c’s

Answer 11

currencies
constraints
context dependent