Pursuit: A Foraging Simulation Tool for Research and Teaching
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Wood, BM
Jones, JH
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
This article describes a software tool called “Pursuit” that is intended to be used for both research and teaching on the topic of optimal foraging theory. The tool provides a dynamic graphical and auditory interface in which users encounter different prey animals and then must decide whether to pursue or ignore the encountered prey. Based on the characteristics of the prey in the foraging environment and the decisions of the player, each user harvests a set of prey per round and achieves a corresponding foraging return rate. Administrators of Pursuit specify the environmental parameters that determine what prey users will encounter. All environmental parameters and user decisions are tracked and logged for analysis. We created this tool for laboratory experiments, but we believe Pursuit could also be an engaging and effective teaching tool, whereby students adopt the role of forager, and through such play, experience a simulated foraging context and learn about foraging theory. Pursuit is freely available and can run on any platform that supports Java, including Mac OS, Windows, and Linux.
Date Issued
2015-12-30
Date Acceptance
2015-11-06
Citation
Evolutionary Psychology, 2015, 13 (4)
ISSN
1474-7049
Publisher
SAGE Publishing
Journal / Book Title
Evolutionary Psychology
Volume
13
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
License URL
Subjects
Social Sciences
Psychology, Experimental
Psychology
simulation
optimal foraging
prey choice
diet breadth
CHOICE DECISIONS
STRATEGIES
BEHAVIOR
MODELS
06 Biological Sciences
16 Studies In Human Society
17 Psychology And Cognitive Sciences
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
1474704915624738