Signal detection and optimal acceptance thresholds in avian brood parasite–host systems: implications for egg rejection

Signal detection theory addresses the challenge of successfully identifying informative signals in noisy information contexts, allowing optimal behavioural decisions in diverse ecological contexts. The optimal acceptance threshold hypothesis proposed by Reeve (Reeve 1989 Am. Nat. 133 , 407–435. ( doi:10.1086/284926 )) is an elegant theoretical model to predict the flexibility of acceptance thresholds for conspecific discrimination. This model has provided a robust framework used to explore recognition systems in a broad range of contexts such as animal communication, nest-mate discrimination or anti-parasitic host responses. In this review, we discuss key concepts related to the optimal acceptance threshold hypothesis applied to egg rejection decisions in avian brood parasite–host interactions. We explore those factors determining signal detectability in parasitized nests and how hosts adjust their rejection decisions to both the risk of parasitism and the potential costs associated with egg rejection. In addition, we discuss recent results that challenge some traditional assumptions of the optimal acceptance threshold hypothesis and provide a novel perspective to explore rejection decisions, such as the existence of single-threshold decision rules or acceptance decisions. An integrative view combining current evidence with traditional theory is needed to further advance the comprehension of optimal acceptance thresholds. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Signal detection theory in recognition systems: from evolving models to experimental tests'.

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The evolution of conspecific acceptance threshold models

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2019.0475 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 375 (1802) ◽

pp. 20190475 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hannah M. Scharf ◽

Andrew V. Suarez ◽

H. Kern Reeve ◽

Mark E. Hauber

Keyword(s):

Signal Detection ◽

Signal Detection Theory ◽

Empirical Support ◽

Experimental Tests ◽

Detection Theory ◽

Threshold Models ◽

Acceptance Threshold ◽

Systems Research ◽

Recognition Systems ◽

Recognition Errors

How do organisms balance different types of recognition errors when cues associated with desirable and undesirable individuals or resources overlap? This is a fundamental question of signal detection theory (SDT). As applied in sociobiology, SDT is not limited to a single context or animal taxon, therefore its application can span what may be considered dissimilar systems. One of the applications of SDT is the suite of acceptance threshold models proposed by Reeve (1989), which analysed how individuals should balance acceptance and rejection errors in social discrimination decisions across a variety of recognition contexts, distinguished by how these costs and benefits relatively combine. We conducted a literature review to evaluate whether these models' specific predictions have been upheld. By examining over 350 research papers, we quantify how Reeve's models (Reeve 1989 Am. Nat. 133 , 407–435 ( doi:10.1086/284926 )) have influenced the field of ecological and behavioural recognition systems research. We found overall empirical support for the predictions of the specific models proposed by Reeve, and argue for further expansion of their applications into more diverse taxonomic and additional recognition contexts. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Signal detection theory in recognition systems: from evolving models to experimental tests’.

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Signal detection: applying analysis methods from psychology to animal behaviour

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2019.0480 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 375 (1802) ◽

pp. 20190480 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Christian J. Sumner ◽

Seirian Sumner

Keyword(s):

Signal Detection ◽

Signal Detection Theory ◽

Sensory Information ◽

Experimental Tests ◽

Detection Theory ◽

Animal Behaviour ◽

Laboratory Animals ◽

Natural Environments ◽

Recognition Systems ◽

Psychological Studies

Conspecific acceptance thresholds (Reeve 1989 Am. Nat. 133 , 407–435), which have been widely applied to explain ecological behaviour in animals, proposed how sensory information, prior information and the costs of decisions determine actions. Signal detection theory (Green & Swets 1966 Signal detection theory and psychophysics ; SDT), which forms the basis of CAT models, has been widely used in psychological studies to partition the ability to discriminate sensory information from the action made as a result of it. In this article, we will review the application of SDT in interpreting the behaviour of laboratory animals trained in operant conditioning tasks and then consider its potential in ecological studies of animal behaviour in natural environments. Focusing on the nest-mate recognition systems exhibited by social insects, we show how the quantitative application of SDT has the potential to transform acceptance rate data into independent indices of cue sensitivity and decision criterion (also known as the acceptance threshold). However, further tests of the assumptions underlying SDT analysis are required. Overall, we argue that SDT, as conventionally applied in psychological studies, may provide clearer insights into the mechanistic basis of decision making and information processing in behavioural ecology. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Signal detection theory in recognition systems: from evolving models to experimental tests’.

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