Environmental complexity favors the evolution of learning

Slimane Dridi and Laurent Lehmann

Behavioral Ecology, 2016, vol. 27, issue 3, 842-850

Abstract: Lay Summary Learning is a widespread adaptation in the animal world. In this article, we show with a novel evolutionary model that the complexity of the environment, defined as the number of distinct challenges faced by an individual in the course of its lifespan, allows for the evolution of learning under broader conditions than established previously. Our work indicates that environmental dynamics in the short term are critical in determining the selective advantages of learning and memory.Twitter: @slimane_dridi

Keywords: behavioral plasticity; environmental complexity; natural selection; short-term memory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/beheco/arv184 (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:beheco:v:27:y:2016:i:3:p:842-850.

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://academic.oup.com/journals

Access Statistics for this article

Behavioral Ecology is currently edited by Louise Barrett

More articles in Behavioral Ecology from International Society for Behavioral Ecology Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Oxford University Press ().