Use of Game Theory in Analyzing Animal Behavior
Scientists from the University of Exeter used game theory to explain unusual behavior of animals. Ravens usually get food from corpses of large animals. Their normal behavior is to find food individually and recruit each other for protection, but some groups of raven showed a different behavior: Some juveniles foraged in groups. The cooperation of ravens had not been observed in the population before. In order to understand this behavior, researchers built a model based on game theory. The purpose was to find the most effective behavior of ravens in different situations to predict which behavior would be favored by evolution. The model showed that the group behavior should be seen when individual search is not efficient anymore. Also it showed the availability of food is a key factor in deciding raven’s behavior. If the food is plentiful, a social advancement become more important and the group foraging behavior directly connects to raven’s social status. This study was the first to use game theory in successfully predicting animal’s behavior.
In class, we have been looking at simple payoff matrix based on game theory. In this research, scientists used game theory to find the dominant strategy for Raven in search of food. This article shows a large spectrum of use of game theory. Not only in economy or business, but also in world of biology, game theory is a useful tool in predicting participant’s satisfaction with the outcomes. In raven’s case, the outcome depends on not just raven’s decisions but on exterior factor such as availability of food. In addition to analyzing the most effective behavior of the animal, use of game theory analyzed external factors that have impact on raven’s hunting method and ravens’ social status. The research showed the potential usefulness of game theory in analyzing other animals’ behaviors as well.
http://biosciences.exeter.ac.uk/news/featurednews/title_2725_en.html