Younger ravens usually search for carcasses independently. Once they find one, they recruit other young ravens to prevent the carcass from being taken from pairs of adults. Interestingly, at a raven roost located at Anglesey, the younger ravens search in groups. At the time, ravens were not previously seen to work together this closely.
In order to determine why the ravens behaved unusually, researchers applied game theory by trying to determine the method that ravens should use based on the benefits to themselves as individuals. The study showed that the best two strategies to use were for the ravens to behave regularly, or to work together. In addition, the ravens would use the first strategy only when the second strategy is less efficient. This means that the ravens are using the strategy that is giving them the best payoff (food in this case).
This is an interesting application of game theory because it shows how game theory could be used to explain new animal behavior. Additionally, it shows how game theory can be used to explain behavior that may seem surprising at first. I chose to write about this because it shows an example of how game theory can be applied in many different fields. From adopting a network science approach to the problem, it is possible to explain animal behavior without needing to make the problem potentially complex by possibly including many variables.
Bibliography:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090224230705.htm
https://animalpickings.com/what-do-you-call-a-group-of-ravens/ (image)
One reply on “How Game Theory Can Be Used To Predict Raven Behavior”
Ravens are definitely intelligent creatures and its interesting to see how game theory is able to reflect their ability to be rational and get a desired payout. It would be great to know what factors may cause this change in behaviour. Could it be environment shifts, human interactions, scarcity in resources?