Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Learning and Foraging Behavior

  • Chapter
Ontogeny

Part of the book series: Perspectives in Ethology ((PEIE,volume 5))

Abstract

Arguments are presented for the integration of the psychological study of animal learning with the ecological study of foraging behavior. In the first section, several examples from the psychological literature (the matching law, taste-aversion learning, and learning set) are discussed in an attempt to demonstrate how these areas require a more ecological evolutionary approach. Second, current field and laboratory research on foraging behavior is reviewed. We conclude in this section that once ecological foraging research began to concentrate upon the behavior of individual animals, the learning abilities of these animals inevitably became a central issue. Specific methodological and conceptual advantages resulting from the integration of psychology and ecology are discussed in the final section. The chapter concludes with comments on real and perceived obstacles to the occurrence of such interdisciplinary integration in the near future.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Alcock, J. (1979). Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach, 2nd ed., Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Massachusetts.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bacotti, A. V. (1977). Matching under concurrent fixed-ratio variable interval schedules of food presentation. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 27:171–182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balda, R. P. (1980). Recovery of cached seeds by a captive Nucifraga caryocatactes, Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie 52:331–346.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baum, W. M. (1974). On two types of deviation from the matching law: Bias and under-matching. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 22:231–242.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baum, W. M., 1979, Matching, undermatching, and overmatching in studies of choice. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 32:269–281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beach, F. A. (1950). The snark was a boojum. American Psychologist 5:115–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bessemer, D. W. (1967). Retention of object discriminations by learning-set experienced monkeys. Doctoral dissertation, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bessemer, D. W. and Stollnitz, F. (1971). Retention of discriminations and an analysis of learning set In Schrier, A. M., and Stollnitz, F. (eds.), Behavior of Nonhuman Primates, Vol. 4, Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bitterman, M. E., and Coate, W. B. (1950). Some new experiments on the nature of discrimination learning in the rat. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 43:198–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bitterman, M. E. (1960). Toward a comparative psychology of learning. American Psychologist 15:704–712.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bitterman, M. E. (1965). Phyletic differences in learning. American Psychologist 20:396–410.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brower, L. P. (1969). Ecological chemistry. Scientific American 220(2):22–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brownstein, A. J., and Pliskoff, S. S. (1968). Some effects of relative reinforcement rate and changeover delay in response independent concurrent schedules of reinforcement. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 11:683–688.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charlesworth, W. R. (1976). Human intelligence as adaptation: An ethological approach. In Resnick, L. (ed.), The Nature of Intelligence Erlbaum, Hillsdale, New Jersey, pp. 147–168.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cole, S., Hainsworth, F. R., Kamil, A. C., Mercier, T., Wolf, L. L., (1982). Spatial learning as an adaptation in hummingbirds, Science, in press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collier, G. H., and Rovee-Collier, C. K. (1981). A comparative analysis of optimal foraging behavior: Laboratory simulations. In Kamil, A. C., and Sargent, T. D. (eds.), Foraging Behavior: Ecological, Ethological, and Psychological Approaches, Garland Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conrad, R. (1959). Errors of immediate memory. British Journal of Psychology 50:349–359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Couvillon, P. A., and Bitterman, M. E. (1980). Some phenomena of associative learning in honeybees. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 94:878–885.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cowie, R. J. (1977). Optimal foraging in great tits (Parus major). Nature 268:137–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crowley, M. A. (1981). The acquisition and generalization of matching. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

    Google Scholar 

  • Croze, H. J. (1970). Searching image in carrion crows. Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie Supplement 5:1–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cullen, E. (1957). Adaptations in the Kittiwake to cliff-nesting. Ibis 99:275–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, N. B. (1977). Prey selection and the search strategy of the Spotted Flycatcher (Muscícapa striata): A field study of optimal foraging. Animal Behaviour 25:1016–1033.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dawkins, M. (1971a). Perceptual changes in chicks: Another look at the “search image” concept. Animal Behaviour 19:566–574.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dawkins, M. (1971b). Shifts in “attention” in chicks during feeding. Animal Behaviour 19:575–582.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deets, A. C., Harlow, H. F., & Blouquist, A. J., (1970). Effect of intertrial and interval and Trial 1 reward during acquisition of an object discrimination learning-set in monkeys. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology. 73:501–505.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Villiers, P. (1977). Choice in concurrent schedules and a quantitative formulation of the law of effect. In Honig, W. K., and Staddon, J. E. R. (eds.), Handbook of Operant Behavior, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewsbury, D. A. (1975). Diversity and adaptation in rodent copulatory behavior. Science 190:947–954.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doty, B. A., Jones, C. N., and Doty, L. A. (1967). Learning set formation by mink, ferrets, skunks, and cats. Science 155:1579–1580.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emlen, J. M. (1966). The role of time and energy in food preference. American Naturalist 100:611–617.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Estabrook, G. F., and Dunham, A. E. (1976). Optimal diet as a function of absolute abundance, relative abundance, and relative value of available prey. The American Naturalist 110:401–413.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fantino, E., Squires, N., Delbrlick, N., and Peterson, C. (1972). Choice behavior and the accessibility of the reinforcer. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 18: 35–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia, J., Ervin, F. R., and Koelling, R. A. (1966). Learning with prolonged delay of reinforcement. Psychonomic Science 5:121–122.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garcia, J., and Koelling, R. A. (1966). Relation of cue to consequence in avoidance learning. Psychonomic Science 4:123–124.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garcia, J., McGowan, B., and Green, K. (1972). Sensory quality and integration: Constraints on conditioning? in Seligman, M. E. P., and Hager, J. L. (eds.), Biological Boundaries of Learning, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gass, C. L., and Montgomerie, R. D. (1981). Hummingbird foraging behavior: Decisionmaking and energy regulation. In Kamil, A. C., and Sargent, T. D. (eds.), Foraging Behavior: Ecological, Ethological, and Psychological Approaches, Garland Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibb, J. A. L. Tinbergen’s hypothesis of the role of specific search images. Ibis, 1962, 104: 106–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gill, F. B., and Wolf, L. L. (1977). Nonrandom foraging by sunbirds in a patchy environment. Ecology 58:1284–1296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glander, K. E. (1981). Feeding patterns in mantled howling monkeys. In Kamil, A. C., and Sargent, T. D. (eds.). Foraging Behavior: Ecological, Ethological, and Psychological Approaches, Garland Press. New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glickman, S. E.. and Sroges, R. W. (1966). Curiosity in zoo animals. Behaviour 24:151–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldsmith, T. H., Collins, J. S., and Perlman, D. L. (1982). A wavelength discrimination function for the hummingbird Archilocus alexandri. Journal of Comparative Physiology, in press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goss-Custard, J. D. (1981). Feeding behavior of redshank, Tringa totanus, and optimal foraging theory. In Kamil, A. C., and Sargent, T. D. (eds.) Foraging Behavior: Ecological, Ethological, and Psychological Approaches. Garland Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gould, S. J., and Lewontin, R. C. (1979). The spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm: A critique of the adaptionist programme. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London 205:581–598.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gustavson, C. R. (1977). Comparative and field aspects of learned food aversions. In Barker, L. M., Best, M., and Domjan, M. (eds.), Learning Mechanisms in Food Selection, Baylor University Press. Waco, Texas.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harlow, H. F.. 1959. Learning set and error factor theory. In Koch, S. (ed.), Psychology: A Study of a Science, Vol. 2, McGraw-Hill, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hailman, J. P. (1965). Cliff-nesting adaptations in the Galapagos swallow-tailed gull. Wilson Bulletin 77:346–362.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heinrich, B. (1979). Bumblebee Economies, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heinrich, B., Mudge, P., and Deringis, P. (1977). A laboratory analysis of flower constancy in foraging bumblebees: Bombus ternanus and B. terricola. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 2:247–266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herrnstein, R. J. (1961). Relative and absolute strength of response as afunction of frequency of reinforcement. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 4:267–272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herrnstein, R. J. (1970). On the law of effect. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 13:243–266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herrnstein, R. J. (1974). Formal properties of the matching law. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 21:159–164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herrnstein, R. J., and Loveland, D. H. (1964). Complex visual concept in the pigeon. Science 146:549–551.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hetherington, E. M., and Parke, R. D. (1979). Child Psychology: A Contemporary Viewpoint. McGraw Hill. New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heyman, G. M., and Luce, R. D. (1979). Operant matching is not a logical consequence of maximizing reinforcement rate. Animal Learning and Behavior 7:133–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodos, W., and Campbell, C. B. G. (1969). Scala naturae: Why there is no theory in comparative psychology. Psychological Review 76:337–350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hollard, V. and Davison, M. C. (1971). Preference for qualitatively different reinforcers. Journal of the Experiment Analysis of Behavior 16:375–380.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Houston, A. I., and McNamara, J. (1981). How to maximize reward rate on two variable-interval paradigms. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 35:367–396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, R. N. (1979). Optimal diets under the energy optimization premise: The effects of recognition time and learning, American Naturalist 113:209–221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hull, C. L. (1951). Essentials of Behavior, Yale University Press, New Haven.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunter, M. W., and Kamil, A. C. (1971). Object-discrimination learning set and hypothesis behavior in the Northern bluejay. Psychonomic Science 22:271–273.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutchinson, G. E. (1959). Homage to Santa Rosalia or why there are so many kinds of animals. American Naturalist 93:145–159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, H. M., and Moore, B. R. (1973). The form of the autoshaped response with food and water reinforcers. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 20:163–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, T. D. (1981). Contrasting approaches to a theory of learning, The Behavioral and Brain Sciences 4:125–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston, T. D., and Gottlieb, G. (1981). Development of visual species identification in ducklings: What is the role of imprinting? Animal Behavior 29:1082–1099.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalat, J. W. and Rozin, P. (1970). Salience: A factor which can override temporal contiguity in taste-aversion learning. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 71:192–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kamil, A. C. (1978). Systematic foraging by a nectar-feeding bird, the Amakihi (Loxops vivens). Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 92:388–396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kamil, A. C., and Hunter, M. (1969), Performance on object-discrimination learning-set by the Greater Hill Myna (Gracula religiosa). Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 73:68–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kamil, A. C., Lougee, M., and Shulman, R. I. (1973). Learning-set behavior in the learning-set experienced bluejay (Cyanocitta cristata). Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 82:394–405.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kamil, A. C. and Mauldin, J. E. (1975). Intraproblem retention during learning-set acquisition in blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata). Animal Learning and Behavior 3:125–130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kamil, A. C., Jones, T. B., Pietrewicz, A. T. and Mauldin, J., (1977). Positive transfer from successive reversal training to learning set in blue jays. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology. 91:79–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kamil, A. C., Peters, J., and Lindstrom, F. (1982). An ecological perspective on the study of the allocation of behavior. In Commons, R. L., Herrnstein, R. J., and Rachlin, H. (eds.), Quantitative Analyses of Behavior, Vol. II, Matching and Maximizing Accounts Ballinger, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krebs, J. R. (1973). Behavioral aspects of predation. In Bateson, P. P. G., and Klopfer, P. H. (eds.), Perspectives in Ethology, Plenum Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krebs, J. R. (1978). Optimal foraging: Decision rules for predators. In Krebs, J. R., and Davies, N. B. (eds.), Behavioral Ecology, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, England.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krebs, J. R., Erichsen, T. J., Webber, M. I., and Charnov, E. L. (1977). Optimal prey selection in the great tit (Parus major). Animal Behaviour 25:30–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krebs, J. R., and Davies, N. B. (1979). Behavioral Ecology: An Evolutionary Approach, Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Massachusetts.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krebs, J. R., Kacelnik, A., and Taylor, P. (1978). Test of optimal sampling by foraging Great Tits. Nature 275:27–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krebs, J. R., Ryan, J. C., and Charnov, E. L. (1974) Hunting by expectation or optimal foraging? A study of patch use by chickadees. Animal Behaviour 22:953–964.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krechevsky, I. (1932) “Hypotheses” in rats. Psychological Review 39:516–532.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LaBounty, C. E., and Reynolds, G. S. (1973). An analysis of response and time matching to reinforcement in concurrent ratio-interval schedules. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 19:155–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lashley, K. S. (1942). An examination of the “continuity theory” as applied to disciminative learning. Journal of General Psychology 26:241–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lea, S. E. G., 1979, Foraging and reinforcement schedules in the pigeon: Optimal and non-optimal aspects of choice. Animal Behavior 27:875–886.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lea, S. E. G. (1981). Correlation and contiguity in foraging behavior. In Harzern, Z., and Zeiler, M. D. (eds.), Predictability, Correlation, and Contiguity, John Wiley & Sons, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lehrman, D. S. (1970). Semantic and conceptual issues in the nature-nurture controversy. In Development and Evolution of Behavior (Aronson, L. R., Tobach, E., Lehrman, D. S., & Rosenblatt, J. S., eds.), W. H. Freeman, San Francisco.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lehrman, D. S. (1974). Can psychiatrists use ethology? In White, N. F. (ed.), Ethology and Psychiatry University of Toronto Press, Toronto.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levine, M. (1959). A model of hypothesis behavior in discrimination learning set. Psychological Review 66:353–366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levine, M. (1965). Hypothesis in behavior. In Harlow, H. F., and Stollnitz, F. (eds.), Behavior of Nonhuman Primates, Vol. 1, Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lockard, R. B. (1971). Reflections on the fall of comparative psychology: Is there a message for us all? American Psychologist 26:168–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacArthur, R. H. and Pianka, E. R., 1966, On optimal use of a patchy environment. American Naturalist 100:603–609.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mackintosh, N. J. (1977). Stimulus control: Attentional factors. In Honig, W. K. and Staddon, J. E. R. eds.), Handbook of Operant Behavior, Prentice-Hall, Edgewood Cliffs, New Jersey

    Google Scholar 

  • Mauldin, J., and Kamil, A. C. (1982). A comparative view of acquisition, in preparation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayr, E. (1970). Populations, Species, and Evolution, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDowell, J. J., and Sulzen, H. M. (1981). Dynamic equilibrium on a cyclic-interval schedule with a ramp, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 36:9–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McNair, J. N. (1981). A stochastic foraging model with predator training effects. 2. Optimal diets, Theoretical Population Biology 19:147–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McNamara, J., and Houston, A. I. (1980). The application of statistical decision theory to animal behavior. Journal of Theoretical Biology 85:673–690.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Medin, D. L., Roberts, W. A., and Davis, R. T. (1976). Processes of Animal Learning, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, New Jersey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Menzel, E. W., Jr., and Wyers, E. J. (1981). Cognitive aspects of foraging behavior. In Kamil, A. C., and Sargent, T. D. (eds.), Foraging Behavior: Ecological, Ethological, and Psychological Approaches, Garland, Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Millard, W. J. (1976). Species preferences of experimenters: Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. American Psychologist 31:894–896.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mook, J. H., Mook, L. J., and Heikens, H. S. (1960). Further evidence for the role of “searching image” in the hunting behavior of titmice. Archives Néerlandaises de Zoologie 13:448–465.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morse, D. H. (1980). Behavioral Mechanisms in Ecology, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myerson, J. and Miezin, F. M. (1980). The kinetics of choice: An operant systems analysis. Psychological Review 87:160–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nachman, M. (1970). Taste preferences for sodium salts by adrenalectomized rats. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 55:1124–1129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ollason, J. G., (1980). Learning to forage optimally? Theoretical Population Biology. 18:44–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olton, D. S., Handelman, G. E., and Walker, J. A. (1981). Spatial Memory and Food Searching Strategies. In Kamil, A. C., and Sargent, T. D. (eds.), Foraging Behavior: Ecological, Ethological, and Psychological Approaches, Garland Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oster, G., and Heinrich, B. (1976). Why do bumblebees major? A mathematical model. Ecological Monographs 46:129–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pietrewicz, A. T., and Kamil, A. C. (1977). Visual detection of cryptic prey by blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata). Science 195:580–582.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pietrewicz, A. T., and Kamil, A. C. (1979). Search image formation in the blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata). Science 204:1332–1333.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pietrewicz, A. T., and Kamil, A. C. (1981). Search images and the detection of cryptic prey: An operant approach. In Kamil, A. C., and Sargent, T. D. (eds.), Foraging Behavior: Ecological, Ethological, and Psychological Approaches, Garland Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pulliam, H. R. (1974). On the theory of optimal diets. American Naturalist 108:59–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pulliam, H. R. (1981). Learning to forage optimally. In Kamil, A. C., and Sargent, T. D. (eds.), Ecological, Ethological, and Psychological Approaches, Garland Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pyke, G. H. (1981). Optimal foraging in nectar-feeding animals and coevolution with their plants. In Kamil, A. C., and Sargent, T. D. (eds.), Foraging Behavior: Ecological, Ethological, and Psychological Approaches, Garland Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pyke, G. H., Pulliam, H. R., and Charnov, E. L. (1977). Optimal foraging: A selective review of theory and tests. Quarterly Review of Biology 52:137–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rachlin, H. (1981). Learning theory in its niche, Behavioral and Brain Sciences 4:155–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rachlin, H., Green, L., Kagel, J. H., and Battalio, R. C. (1976). Economic demand theory and psychophysical studies of choice. In Bower, G. (ed.), The Psychology of Learning and Motivation, Vol. 10, Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reichman, O. J. (1981). Factors influencing foraging in desert rodents. In Kamil, A. C., and Sargent, T. D. (eds.), Foraging Behavior: Ecological, Ethological, and Psychological Approaches, Garland Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Revusky, S. H. (1968). Aversion to sucrose produced by contingent X-irradiation: Temporal and dosage parameters. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 65:17–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Revusky, S. H. (1971). Role of interference in association over a delay. In Honig, W. K., and James, H. (eds.), Second Annual Dalhousie Conference on Animal Memoiy

    Google Scholar 

  • Revusky, S. H., and Bedarf, E. W. (1967). Association of illness with prior ingestion of novel foods. Science 155:219–220.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ricciardi, A. M., and Treichler, F. R. (1970). Prior training influences on transfer to learning set by squirrel monkeys. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 73:314–319.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riley, D. A. (1968). Discrimination Learning, Allyn and Bacon, Boston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Royama, T., (1970). Factors governing the hunting behaviour and selection of food by the Great Tit (Parus major L.). Journal of Animal Ecology. 39:619–668.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rozin, P. and Kalat, J. W. (1971). Specific hungers and poison avoidance as adaptive specializations of learning. Psychological Review 78: 459–486.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sargent, T. D. (1976). Legion of Night, University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoener, T. W. (1971). Theory of feeding strategies. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 2:369–404.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schusterman, R. J. (1962). Transfer effects of successive discrimination-reversal training in chimpanzees. Science 137:422–423.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schusterman, R. J. (1964). Successive discrimination-reversal training and multiple discrimination training in one-trial learning chimpanzees, Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 58:153–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, B., (1981). The ecology of learning: The right answer to the wrong question. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 4:159–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seligman, M. E. P. (1970). On the generality of the laws of learning. Psychological Review 77:406–418.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seligman, M. E. P., and Hager, J. L. (1972). Biological Boundaries of Learning, Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shettleworth, S. J. (1972). Constraints on learning. In Lehrman, D. S., Hinde, R. A., and Shaw, E. (eds.). Advances in the Study of Behavior, Vol. 4, Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shettleworth, S. J. (1975). Reinforcement and the organization of behavior in golden hamsters: Hunger, environment, and food reinforcement. Journal of Experimental Psychology 104:56–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shettleworth, S. J. (1982). Function and mechanism in learning. In Zeiler, M., and Harzen, P. (eds.). Advances in Analysis of Behavior, Vol. 3, Biological Factors in Learning Wiley, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Staddon, J. E. R., and Motheral, S. (1978). On matching and maximizing in operant choice experiments. Psychological Review 85:436–444.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shimp, L. P. (1966). Probabilistically reinforced choice behavior in pigeons. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 9:443–456.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shimp, L. P. (1969). Optimum behavior in free-operant experiments. Psychological Review 76:97–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shull, R. L., and Pliskoff, S. S. (1967). Changeover delay and concurrent schedules: Some effects on relative performance measures, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 10:517–527.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skinner, B. F. (1938). Behavior of Organisms, Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, J. C., and Roll, D. L. (1967). Trace conditioning with X-rays as an aversive stimulus Psychonomic Science 9:11–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, J. N. M.. and Sweatman, H. P. A. (1974). Food searching behavior of tit mice in patchy environments. Ecology 55:1216–1232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, J. N. M., & Dawkins, R. (1971). The hunting behavior of individual great tits in relation to spatial variations in their food density. Animal Behaviour 19:695–706.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Staddon, J. E. R. (1980). Optimality analyses of operant behavior and their relation to optimal foraging. In Staddon, J. E. R. (ed.), Limits to Action: The Allocation of Individual Behavior, Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Timberlake, W. (1982). The Emperor’s clothes: Assumptions of the Matching Theory. In Commons, M. L., Herrnstein, R. J., and Rachlin, H. (eds.), Quantitative Analyses of Behavior II. Matching and Maximizing Accounts, Ballinger, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tinbergen, N. (1951). The Study of Instinct, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tinbergen, L. (1960). The natural control of insects in pinewoods. I. Factors influencing the intensity of predation by songbirds. Archives Neerlandaises de Zoologie 13:265–343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tolman, E. C., Ritchie, B. F., and Kalish, D. (1946). Studies in spatial learning. II. Place learning vs. response learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology 37:285–292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uhl, C. N. (1963). Two-choice probability learning in the rat as a function of incentive, probability of reinforcement, and training procedure. Journal of Experimental Psychology 66:443–449.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vander Wall, S. B., (1982). An experimental analysis of cache recovery in Clark’s Nutracker. Animal Behaviour 30:84–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warren, J. M. (1965). Primate learning in comparative perspective, in “Behavior of Non-human Primates: Modern Research Trends. Vol. I, ” Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warren, J. M. (1966). Reversal learning and the formation of learning sets by cats and rhesus monkeys. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology. 61:421–428.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wasserman, E. A. (1981). Comparative psychology returns: A review of Hulse, Fowler, and Honig’s Cognitive Processes in Animal Behavior. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 35:243–257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Werner, G. E., and Hall, D. J. (1974). Optimal foraging and size selection of prey by the bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus). Ecology 55:1042–1052.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilcoxon, H. C., Dragoin, W. B., and Krai, D. A. (1971). Illness-induced aversions in rat and quail: Relative saliences of visual and gustatory cues. Science 171:826–828.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zahorik, D. M., and Houpt, K. A. (1981). The concept of nutritional wisdom: Applicability of laboratory learning models to large herbivores. In Barker, L. M., Best, M., and Domjan, M. (eds.), Learning Mechanisms in Food Selection Baylor University Press, Waco.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zeigler, H. P. (1961). Learning set formation in pigeons. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 54:252–254.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Psychology and Zoology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, 01003, USA

    Alan C. Kamil & Sonja I. Yoerg

Authors
  1. Alan C. Kamil
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sonja I. Yoerg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Sub-Department of Animal Behaviour, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England

    P. P. G. Bateson

  2. Department of Zoology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA

    Peter H. Klopfer

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1982 Plenum Press, New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Kamil, A.C., Yoerg, S.I. (1982). Learning and Foraging Behavior. In: Bateson, P.P.G., Klopfer, P.H. (eds) Ontogeny. Perspectives in Ethology, vol 5. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7578-8_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7578-8_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4615-7580-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-7578-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation