Individual, Collective and Environmental Drivers of Human Foraging Dynamics in the Wild

• Applicant: Ralf Kurvers, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Social Psychology, Industrial and Organisational Psychology ; Sensory and Behavioural Biology
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 461346190

In a world ruled by uncertainty, information acquisition is critical for adaptive decision-making. Comprehending adaptive decision-making requires a clear understanding of the type of information individuals gather (‘what’), the underlying mechanisms (‘how’) and the potential adaptive value of the information (‘why’). However, in human ecological research these fundamental questions have remained largely unintegrated and, hence, unanswered. To take the next step in understanding human decision-making from an adaptive perspective, I therefore propose a novel integrative approach on information acquisition and processing in human behavioural ecology, focusing on a natural context of great importance: foraging behaviour in the wild. The overarching goal is to better comprehend how synergetic effects between individuals and environments shape human decision-making. The guiding questions are: 1 How does individual and collective foraging success develop over the lifespan of individuals? 2 What are the individual and collective information acquisition mechanisms underlying this development?3 How does the socio-ecological environment interact with the above-mentioned processes?I will use two complementary approaches: 1) Analyses of longitudinal field data spanning almost 50 years, to quantify the development of individual and collective foraging success. 2) Fieldwork, to understand the mechanistic underpinnings of human competitive and cooperative foraging decisions in the wild. I will equip foragers with i) tracking devices to study spatial behaviour, ii) head cameras to quantify visual information acquisition, and iii) heart rate monitors to quantify physiological foraging costs. Combined, these approaches will render unique and novel insights into important long-standing questions in human adaptive decision-making.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Finland
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Dr. Raine Kortet; Dr. Petri Niemela