Are animals capable of Bayesian updating? An empirical review Export

@article{citeulike:4284560, abstract = {Numerous behavioral models assume individuals combine knowledge in the form of a prior distribution with current sample information using Bayesian updating to estimate the quality of environmental parameters. I examine this assumption by reviewing 11 empirical studies. Six studies compared observed behavior to predictions of Bayesian and non-Bayesian models, while five studies manipulated prior distributions directly and observed how such manipulations altered behavior. Eight species of birds, three mammals, one fish and one insect exhibited behavior consistent with Bayesian updating models; one studied bird species failed to show evidence of Bayesian updating. Most studies examined how individuals estimated food patch quality but two investigated mating decisions. These studies suggest a variety of animals in different ecological contexts behave in manners consistent with predictions of Bayesian updating models. Future work on decision-making should focus on understanding how animals learn prior distributions and on decision-making in additional ecological contexts.}, author = {Valone, Thomas J.}, citeulike-article-id = {4284560}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0030-1299.2006.13465.x}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/118620257/ABSTRACT}, doi = {10.1111/j.0030-1299.2006.13465.x}, journal = {Oikos}, keywords = {bayes, behaviour, cognition, decision-making, model, psychology}, number = {2}, pages = {252--259}, posted-at = {2009-04-07 16:49:45}, priority = {2}, title = {Are animals capable of Bayesian updating? An empirical review}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0030-1299.2006.13465.x}, volume = {112}, year = {2006} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:4284560 L3 - citeulike-article-id:4284560 N2 - Numerous behavioral models assume individuals combine knowledge in the form of a prior distribution with current sample information using Bayesian updating to estimate the quality of environmental parameters. I examine this assumption by reviewing 11 empirical studies. Six studies compared observed behavior to predictions of Bayesian and non-Bayesian models, while five studies manipulated prior distributions directly and observed how such manipulations altered behavior. Eight species of birds, three mammals, one fish and one insect exhibited behavior consistent with Bayesian updating models; one studied bird species failed to show evidence of Bayesian updating. Most studies examined how individuals estimated food patch quality but two investigated mating decisions. These studies suggest a variety of animals in different ecological contexts behave in manners consistent with predictions of Bayesian updating models. Future work on decision-making should focus on understanding how animals learn prior distributions and on decision-making in additional ecological contexts. IS - 2 JF - Oikos EP - 259 TI - Are animals capable of Bayesian updating? An empirical review VL - 112 SP - 252 KW - bayes KW - behaviour KW - cognition KW - decision-making KW - model KW - psychology AU - Valone, Thomas PY - 2006/// UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0030-1299.2006.13465.x ER -