Final Report Summary - EVOMECH (The evolution of mechanisms that control behaviour)
Although such rules should perform well on average, they may never be exactly optimal in any given situation. Sometimes, particularly in the artificial environment of a scientific laboratory, the underlying rule an animal is using may cause it to behave in a strange or ‘irrational’ way. One striking example is the human obesity epidemic: an ancestral liking for rich, fatty foods may be a poor fit to the very different environment we find ourselves in today.
Our research has identified plausible evolutionary explanations for apparently irrational behaviours and has shed light on some widespread psychological phenomena, such as optimism, depression, anxiety and impulsiveness.