Speed–accuracy tradeoffs in animal decision making
Abstract
The traditional emphasis when measuring performance in animal cognition has been overwhelmingly on accuracy, independent of decision time. However, more recently, it has become clear that tradeoffs exist between decision speed and accuracy in many ecologically relevant tasks, for example, prey and predator detection and identification; pollinators choosing between flower species; and spatial exploration strategies. Obtaining high-quality information often increases sampling time, especially under noisy conditions. Here we discuss the mechanisms generating such speed-accuracy tradeoffs, their implications for animal decision making (including signalling, communication and mate choice) and the significance of differences in decision strategies among species, populations and individuals. The ecological relevance of such tradeoffs can be better understood by considering the neuronal mechanisms underlying decision-making processes.
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Rapid information flows may overwhelm cognitive processes and yield less accurate decisions.
“rapid information flows may overwhelm cognitive processes and yield less accurate decisions”
From Stewardship of global collective behavior (2021) · cites this paper as [103]
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Stewardship of global collective behavior
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- Authors
- Chittka, L., Skorupski, P., & Raine, N. E.
- Affiliations
- Queen Mary University of London (GB)
- Venue
- Trends in Ecology & Evolution
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2009-07
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 400-407
- ISSN
- 0169-5347 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2109284574
- Cited by
- 637
- References
- 75
- Citations by year
- 2026: 30 · 2025: 49 · 2024: 37 · 2023: 35 · 2022: 39 · 2021: 56 · 2020: 45 · 2019: 41 · 2018: 40 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 51 · 2015: 38 · 2014: 49 · 2013: 32 · 2012: 32
- FWCI
- 2.39
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Trends in Ecology & Evolution (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Queen Mary Research Online (Queen Mary University of London) (submittedVersion)
- Royal Holloway Digital Repository (Royal Holloway University of London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/F52765X/1)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Keywords
- speed-accuracy trade-off, animal decision-making, decision time, animal cognition, prey detection, predator detection, pollinator foraging behavior, spatial exploration, signaling, communication, mate choice
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Animal Communication, Decision Making, Feeding Behavior, Models, Biological, Social Behavior
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