Motivational mechanisms of optimal foraging: A novel theory and critical tests with pigeons in a semi-natural foraging environment

最佳觅食的激励机制：半自然觅食环境中鸽子的新颖理论和关键测试

• 批准号: 429226585
• 负责人: Dr. Patrick Anselme, Ph.D.
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Lehrstuhl für Biopsychologie
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2018-12-31 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/429226585?language=en
• 关键词: Motivational; mechanisms; optimal; foraging; novel

In the environment, animals are exposed to food resources that are neither abundant nor homogeneously distributed. Intra- and inter-specific competition contributes to magnify this phenomenon. Natural selection shaped optimal foraging strategies that allow organisms to reduce food unpredictability, but the psychological mechanisms that underpin optimal foraging are poorly understood. This project tries to uncover the motivational mechanisms of optimal foraging as tested with pigeons in a semi-natural foraging environment under conditions of food insecurity. Pigeons will be used as an animal model because a vast literature is devoted to the study of uncertainty processing in these birds, while at the same time foraging strategies have not deeply been studied in pigeons relative to other bird species, such as small passerines. Pigeons have a lower risk of starvation because they are larger birds than most passerines, and this may have an impact on their foraging strategies. The environment will basically consist of a foraging platform perforated with holes and a realistic display of competitors on a computer screen. Major predictions of behavioral theories relevant to the study of animal foraging under food unpredictability will be tested and contrasted. First, the results of the experiments presented here could provide information about the effects of food insecurity in environmental conditions more realistic than those traditionally used. Second, they could have important theoretical implications for the understanding of the invariant motivational and behavioral mechanisms of reward-associated behaviors across all vertebrate classes.

在环境中，动物暴露于既不丰富也不均匀分布的食物资源。种内和种间竞争加剧了这种现象。自然选择塑造了最佳觅食策略，使生物体能够减少食物的不可预测性，但对支撑最佳觅食的心理机制知之甚少。该项目试图揭示最佳觅食的动机机制，在半自然的觅食环境中，在粮食不安全的条件下，用鸽子进行测试。鸽子将被用作动物模型，因为大量文献致力于研究这些鸟类的不确定性处理，而与此同时，相对于其他鸟类，如小型雀形目，鸽子的觅食策略尚未得到深入研究。猪笼草的饥饿风险较低，因为它们比大多数雀形目鸟类都大，这可能会影响它们的觅食策略。该环境将基本上包括一个觅食平台穿孔与洞和现实显示的竞争对手在计算机屏幕上。主要预测的行为理论相关的研究动物觅食下的食物不可预测性将进行测试和对比。首先，这里介绍的实验结果可以提供有关环境条件下粮食不安全的影响比传统上使用的更现实的信息。其次，它们可能对理解所有脊椎动物类中奖励相关行为的不变动机和行为机制具有重要的理论意义。