Basic functional trade-offs in cognition: An integrative framework

Giudice, Marco Del; Crespi, Bernard J.

doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2018.06.008

Cited by 60 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 144 publications

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“…This review has focused on two tradeoffs-learning efficacy versus processing efficiency, and stability versus flexibility-however there are of course others faced by cognitive systems [132,19,133]. For example, another one concerns the decision between selecting actions that yield known rewards (exploitation) and ones with unknown rewards but that may yield new information that leads to greater rewards in the future (exploration) [134].…”

Section: Concluding Remarks and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rationalizing Constraints on the Capacity for Cognitive Control

Musslick¹,

Cohen²

2020

Preprint

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Humans are remarkably limited in (a) how many control-dependent tasks they can execute simultaneously, and (b) how intensely they can focus on a single task. These limitations are universal assumptions of most theories of cognition. Yet, a rationale for why humans are subject to these constraints remains elusive. This review draws on recent insights from psychology, neuroscience and machine learning, to suggest that constraints on cognitive control may result from a rational adaptation to fundamental computational dilemmas in neural architectures. The reviewed literature implies that limitations in multitasking may result from a tradeoff between learning efficacy and processing efficiency, and that limitations in the intensity of commitment to a single task may reflect a tradeoff between cognitive stability and flexibility.

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Section: Concluding Remarks and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rationalizing Constraints on the Capacity for Cognitive Control

Musslick¹,

Cohen²

2020

Preprint

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“…Trade‐offs are a fundamental component of behavioural decisions, because resources such as time or energy are somewhat limited, and costly investments need to be balanced against each other. Thereby, sensory and cognitive processes play an important role (Caves, Brandley, & Johnsen, ; Del Guidice & Crespi, ; Endler, ), as collecting and using information may be difficult and typically involves costs (Elwood & Arnott, ; Guilford & Dawkins, ). Thus, prospective signal receivers should evaluate if collecting additional information is worth the effort, or if a certain level of uncertainty about a signal provider is acceptable because it would improve the receiver's cost/benefit ratio (Dawkins & Guilford, ; Waite, ).…”

Section: Costs Of Information Acquisitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of sensory ecology and cognition in social decisions: Costs of acquiring information matter

Schneeberger

Taborsky

2020

Functional Ecology

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We generally assume that animals should maximize information acquisition about their environment to make prudent decisions. But this is a naïve assumption, as gaining information typically involves costs. This is especially so in the social context, where interests between interacting partners usually diverge. The arms race involved in mutual assessment is characterized by the attempt to obtain revealing information from a partner while providing only as much information by oneself as is conducive to one's own intentions. If obtaining information occasions costs in terms of time, energy and risk, animals should be selected to base their decisions on a cost–benefit ratio that takes account of the trade‐off between the risk of making wrong choices and the costs involved in information acquisition, processing and use. In addition, there may be physiological and/or environmental constraints limiting the ability to obtaining, processing and utilizing reliable information. Here, we discuss recent empirical evidence for the proposition that social decisions are to an important extent based on the costs that result from acquiring, processing, evaluating and storing information. Using examples from different taxa and ecological contexts, we aim at drawing attention to the often neglected costs of information recipience, with emphasis on the potential role of sensory ecology and cognition in social decisions.

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“…Potentially complex interactions among multiple components can amplify local failures into catastrophic events; and although the system may be rendered more secure against direct hijacking, it may also become more vulnerable to other forms of attack (e.g., genomic manipulation). Such robustness-fragility tradeoffs are pervasive in biological systems, and tend to drive up the complexity of organisms over 8073.proof.3d 261 06/27/19 01:01 Achorn International evolutionary time (Kitano 2004(Kitano , 2007; Alderson and Doyle 2010; see Del Giudice and Crespi 2018).…”

Section: Toxic Signaling Moleculesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Evolution is a wasteful process that "tinkers" with what is available at any given time, and can never escape the constraints of previous history; for all of its ability to produce effective and finely tuned adaptations, natural selection is also bound to leave behind a legacy of suboptimal solutions, design compromises, and inefficiencies (e.g., Marcus 2009). The fact that brains are exposed to accidents and malfunctions inevitably gives rise to tradeoffs between efficiency and robustness (see Del Giudice and Crespi 2018); less intuitively, sexual selection for behavioral traitsfrom courtship displays such as bird songs to manifestations of cognitive ability-often favors the evolution of wasteful, costly mechanisms rather than maximally efficient ones (Miller 2000;Kuijper et al 2012). Sexual selection may also decrease the robustness of some traits, precisely to turn them into reliable indicators of health and genetic quality (see Geary 2015).…”

Section: Implications For Neuroscience and Psychopharmacology Implicamentioning

confidence: 99%

Invisible Designers: Brain Evolution Through the Lens of Parasite Manipulation

Giudice¹

2019

The Quarterly Review of Biology

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keywords behavior, brain evolution, hormones, neurobiology, parasite-host interactions, parasite manipulation abstract The ability of parasites to manipulate host behavior to their advantage has been studied extensively, but the impact of parasite manipulation on the evolution of neural and endocrine mechanisms has remained virtually unexplored. If selection for countermeasures has shaped the evolution of nervous systems, many aspects of neural functioning are likely to remain poorly understood until parasites-the brain's invisible designers-are included in the picture. This article offers the first systematic discussion of brain evolution in light of parasite manipulation. After reviewing the strategies and mechanisms employed by parasites, the paper presents a taxonomy of host countermeasures with four main categories, namely: restrict access to the brain; increase the costs of manipulation; increase the complexity of signals; and increase robustness. For each category, possible examples of countermeasures are explored, and the likely evolutionary responses by parasites are considered. The article then discusses the metabolic, computational, and ecological constraints that limit the evolution of countermeasures. The final sections offer suggestions for future research and consider some implications for basic neuroscience and psychopharmacology. The paper aims to present a novel perspective on brain evolution, chart a provisional way forward, and stimulate research across the relevant disciplines.

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Basic functional trade-offs in cognition: An integrative framework

Cited by 60 publications

References 144 publications

Rationalizing Constraints on the Capacity for Cognitive Control

Rationalizing Constraints on the Capacity for Cognitive Control

The role of sensory ecology and cognition in social decisions: Costs of acquiring information matter

Invisible Designers: Brain Evolution Through the Lens of Parasite Manipulation

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