Mate choice decisions by searchers

For more than two decades rudimentary versions of the fixed sample and sequential search strategies have provided the primary theoretical foundation for the study of mate choice decisions by searchers. The theory that surrounds these models has expanded markedly over this time period. In this paper, we review and extend results derived from these models, with a focus on the empirical analysis of searcher behavior. The basic models are impractical for empirical purposes because they rely on the assumption that searchers—and, for applied purposes, researchers—assess prospective mates based on their quality, the fitness consequences of mate choice decisions. Here we expound versions of the models that are more empirically useful, reformulated to reflect decisions based on male phenotypic characters. For some organisms, it may be possible to use preference functions to derive predictions from the reformulated models and thereby avoid difficulties associated with the measurement of male quality per se. But predictions derived from the two models are difficult to differentiate empirically, regardless of how the models are formulated. Here we develop ideas that illustrate how this goal might be accomplished. In addition, we clarify how the variability of male quality should be evaluated and we extend what is known about how this variability influences searcher behavior under each model. More general difficulties associated with the empirical study of mate choice decisions by searchers are also discussed.