Comparative evaluation and its implications for mate choice

Bateson, Melissa; Healy, Susan D.

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2005.08.013

Cited by 244 publications

(222 citation statements)

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“…Observing departure from rational mate choice may be important for two reasons. First, irrational mate choice may have unpredictable and important evolutionary effects (Bateson and Healy, 2005;Kirkpatrick et al, 2006). Second, it may provide insights into the underlying mechanisms of mating decisions, in much the same way as visual illusions can help to understand the rules that govern visual perception (Newell, 2005).…”

Section: Comparative Mate Choice and Rationality In Decision Makingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Until recently, the cognitive aspects of mating decision have received scarce attention in sexual selection theory, because it was simplistically assumed that, if mate choice is advantageous to females, then selection will provide them with the way for choosing mates accurately. Bateson and Healy (2005), Castellano (2009a), Ryan et al (2007Ryan et al ( , 2009) contended this view emphasizing the role of cognitive mechanisms for understanding the evolution of mate choice. Following the theoretical approach proposed by Marr (1982), Castellano (2009a) argued that sexual selection theory needs a computational theory of mate choice, a theory that could explain mating decisions at both the abstract level of the computational properties and at the proximate level of algorithm implementation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Computational mate choice: Theory and empirical evidence

Castellano

Cadeddu

Cermelli

2012

Behavioural Processes

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a b s t r a c tThe present review is based on the thesis that mate choice results from information-processing mechanisms governed by computational rules and that, to understand how females choose their mates, we should identify which are the sources of information and how they are used to make decisions. We describe mate choice as a three-step computational process and for each step we present theories and review empirical evidence. The first step is a perceptual process. It describes the acquisition of evidence, that is, how females use multiple cues and signals to assign an attractiveness value to prospective mates (the preference function hypothesis). The second step is a decisional process. It describes the construction of the decision variable (DV), which integrates evidence (private information by direct assessment), priors (public information), and value (perceived utility) of prospective mates into a quantity that is used by a decision rule (DR) to produce a choice. We make the assumption that females are optimal Bayesian decision makers and we derive a formal model of DV that can explain the effects of preference functions, mate copying, social context, and females' state and condition on the patterns of mate choice. The third step of mating decision is a deliberative process that depends on the DRs. We identify two main categories of DRs (absolute and comparative rules), and review the normative models of mate sampling tactics associated to them. We highlight the limits of the normative approach and present a class of computational models (sequential-sampling models) that are based on the assumption that DVs accumulate noisy evidence over time until a decision threshold is reached. These models force us to rethink the dichotomy between comparative and absolute decision rules, between discrimination and recognition, and even between rational and irrational choice. Since they have a robust biological basis, we think they may represent a useful theoretical tool for behavioural ecologist interested in integrating proximate and ultimate causes of mate choice.

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Section: Comparative Mate Choice and Rationality In Decision Makingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Computational mate choice: Theory and empirical evidence

Castellano

Cadeddu

Cermelli

2012

Behavioural Processes

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“…However, there is more to mate choice than simply the expression of mating preferences and this is the way females collect information about prospective mates and the way they make decisions once information has been obtained (Real 1990;Bateson and Healy 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Researchers adopting this approach do not aim at describing the association between mating decision and mating-signal variation, but they focus on the underlying mechanisms responsible for this association, trying to understand the tactical rules that females use for sampling prospective mates, for assessing their quality and for making mating decisions (Parker 1978(Parker , 1983Janetos 1980;Real 1990;Bateson and Healy 2005;Phelps et al 2006). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Females that employ the fixed sample search tactic are assumed to sample a certain number of prospective partners and to choose the best one (bestof-n tactic, Janetos 1980, Real 1990). Whether, in both models, the searching cost is the same and is proportional to the actual (fixed sample search) or expected (sequential search) sample size, the decision mechanism is thought to differ: when females adopt the sequential-search tactic, they choose on the basis of an absolute criterion, whereas when they adopt the fixedsample tactic, they compare prospective mates and choose on the basis of a relative evaluation criterion (Bateson and Healy 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sampling and assessment accuracy in mate choice: A random-walk model of information processing in mating decision

Castellano

Cermelli

2011

Journal of Theoretical Biology

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Cite this article as: Sergio Castellano and Paolo Cermelli, Sampling and assessment accuracy in mate choice: a random-walk model of information processing in mating decision., Journal of Theoretical Biology, doi:10.1016Biology, doi:10. /j.jtbi.2011 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting galley proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. ABSTRACTMate choice depends on mating preferences and on the manner in which mate-quality information is acquired and used to make decisions. We present a model that describes how these two components of mating decision interact with each other during a comparative evaluation of prospective mates. The model, with its well-explored precedents in psychology and neurophysiology, assumes that decisions are made by the integration over time of noisy information until a stopping-rule criterion is reached. Due to this informational approach, the model builds a coherent theoretical framework for developing an integrated view of functions and mechanisms of mating decisions. From a functional point of view, the model allows us to investigate speed-accuracy tradeoffs in mating decision at both population and individual levels.It shows that, under strong time constraints, decision makers are expected to make fast and frugal decisions and to optimally trade off population-sampling accuracy (i.e. the number of sampled males) against individual-assessment accuracy (i.e. the time spent for evaluating each mate).From the proximate-mechanism point of view, the model makes testable predictions on the interactions of mating preferences and choosiness in different contexts and it might be of compelling empirical utility for a context-independent description of mating preference strength.4

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Context‐dependent female preference for multiple ornaments in the bearded reedling

Griggio

Hoi

Lukasch

et al. 2016

Ecology and Evolution

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While it is well established that females prefer to mate with well‐ornamented males, the influence of perceptive and cognitive processes on the expression of female mate choice is still poorly known. It has been suggested that the female perception of a male's attractiveness is not absolute, but depends on the other males with which he is compared that have been previously encountered (comparative evaluation). We investigated whether mate preference in bearded reedlings (Panurus biarmicus) is dependent on or independent of social context in relation to two different traits: beard and tail lengths. Each female had a choice between two to three males with different modifications of beard and tail. For each female, three different experiments were conducted (one binary and two trinary tests). We found that when females are presented with options that vary antagonistically with respect to two ornaments (binary test), some individuals prefer one trait while others the other trait. This indicates that in our bearded reedlings population exists a mate preference polymorphisms. Moreover, we found that the presence of a third stimulus, irrespective of the initial preference, reduced the strength of the initial preference – what we can call a “preference dilution effect.” Our results suggest that the female's choice may be constrained by her cognitive abilities when she is simultaneously presented with several options varying for two uncorrelated traits.

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Comparative evaluation and its implications for mate choice

Cited by 244 publications

References 35 publications

Computational mate choice: Theory and empirical evidence

Computational mate choice: Theory and empirical evidence

Sampling and assessment accuracy in mate choice: A random-walk model of information processing in mating decision

Context‐dependent female preference for multiple ornaments in the bearded reedling

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