Definition
Suboptimal behavior involves the preference for an alternative associated with less reinforcement than the unchosen alternative.
Introduction
Animals are continuously taking risks. An animal might risk going to the watering hole but it risks the possibility of being attacked by a predator. An animal might risk leaving the current depleting patch but it risks not finding a better one. Animals are assumed to have evolved risk-taking strategies that are optimal for the species and their environment (e.g., the distribution of food). Sometimes, however, animals make choices that are suboptimal even after considerable experience with the probability and amount of reinforcer.
A suboptimal choiceis one for which there is a better alternative, such as one that gets the animal more food, better survival, or increased reproductive success. Thus, if pecking one response key gets the pigeon two pellets of food and pecking a different key gets the pigeon three pellets of food, it would...
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References
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Zentall, T.R. (2021). Suboptimal Behaviors in Gambling-Like Tasks. In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_234-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_234-1
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