Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Lay Summary
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (9)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Clark, C. W.
Right arrow Articles by Dukas, R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Clark, C. W.
Right arrow Articles by Dukas, R.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Behavioral Ecology Vol. 14 No. 2: 151-156
© 2003 International Society for Behavioral Ecology

The behavioral ecology of a cognitive constraint: limited attention

Colin W. Clarka, and Reuven Dukasb

a Department of Mathematics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2, Canada b Behavioural Ecology Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada

Address correspondence to C.W. Clark. E-mail: biec{at}interchange. ubc.ca. R. Dukas is now at the Department of Psychology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4K1, Canada.

Limited attention may constrain animal behavior in situations in which the rate of relevant information exceeds the threshold processing capacity of the brain. In the present study, we examine why attention is limited by quantifying how attention affects the ubiquitous problem of balancing foraging and antipredator activity. We analyze how a given attentional capacity affects feeding requirements, the optimal attentional focus during predator scanning, and the probability of detecting predators. Our model indicates that because of the complex interplay between the costs and benefits associated with a given attentional capacity, limited attention can be an optimal strategy, which allows effective and economical search for cryptic objects.

Key words: attention, cognition, constraint, foraging, predation risk.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.