An Investigation into Predictors of Competitive Success in a Large-Scale Group Foraging Task

Abstract

Ideal Free Distribution Theory (IFD) (Fretwell & Lucas, 1970) suggests that the allocation of organisms to two or more resource sites is a function of the available resources at each site. Experimental arrangements involving human participants consist of a series of trials in which participants choose between two resource sites with differing resource values. Past research has investigated the relationship between delay discounting and performance in an IFD task, noting correlations between higher discounting and poorer individual performance. The current study sought to investigate the predictive capabilities of various psychological assessments, including an individual and group-context delay discounting task. Results demonstrate that the allocation of participants conformed to the IFD theory. Additionally, results suggest that, while controlling for all other assessments, the individual delay discounting assessment, competitive index score, and proportion of trials switched significantly predicted performance.