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Random and Systematic Foraging, Experimental Studies of Depletion, and Schedules of Reinforcement

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Foraging Behavior

Abstract

To say that an organism moves about randomly in space is to say that it fails to discriminate one location from any other. If it moves about systematically, then it does discriminate one location from another. In general, if an organism behaves randomly with respect to some dimension of the environment, it fails to discriminate among situations that differ only in that dimension, and to the extent that it does discriminate, it behaves systematically. Discrimination usually saves time and energy, because discrimination usually means that effort is allocated predominantly to situations in which it is most likely to produce favorable results. To be systematic, therefore, is to be efficient.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 03824, USA

    William M. Baum

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  1. William M. Baum
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    Alan C. Kamil

  2. Oxford University, Oxford, England

    John R. Krebs

  3. University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA

    H. Ronald Pulliam

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© 1987 Plenum Press, New York

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Baum, W.M. (1987). Random and Systematic Foraging, Experimental Studies of Depletion, and Schedules of Reinforcement. In: Kamil, A.C., Krebs, J.R., Pulliam, H.R. (eds) Foraging Behavior. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1839-2_21

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1839-2_21

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-9027-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-1839-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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