What are games?
Two Tone Fiddler Crab - Andrew Mitchell
In the the fields of ecology and evolution, games refer to strategic decisions made by individuals or strategic adaptations made by genomes (respectively) to maximise survival and/or reproductive output. Usually, games refer to some sort of conflict, physical or otherwise.
In nature, organisms may:
- compete with others to gain resources or mates;
- evade predators;
- capture prey;
and the formula for optimal success in life may differ between males and females, or even between parents and their offspring. All of these conflicts can be thought of as games or strategies, modeled using mathematical algorithms, and tested in natural systems to better understand how organisms use behaviour and physiology to get the most out of life.
Understanding deception
In my research group, we focus on the behaviour and physiology associated with deception. You might imagine that individuals could enhance their survival or reproduction by pretending to be better performers than they actually are - but in reality, deception is surprisingly rare in nature. We believe this is because deceptive individuals that get caught are punished severely, either physically or socially, resulting in a dramatic reduction in reproductive and/or lifespan potential.
Most of our work focuses on the physical performance among crustaceans, which are among the few animals to routinely use deception; crustaceans may use their enlarged claws to battle for dominance (and access to mates or resources), and our work has shown that claw size - which is used as a signal of strength - is not always an accurate indicator of actual strength. Though crustaceans with large-but-strong claws are likely to dominate, some individuals produce large-but-wimpy claws and seem to get away with it. How does this happen? Does the pattern of deception vary among populations, sexes, and species?
Why is this important?
Using our crustacean model, we are testing theoretical questions about the environmental and social factors that promote or limit deception in nature. Because we're testing general models, our work can be applied not only to crustaceans, but to all animals, including humans.
Photo: Anthony O'Toole
In fact, we're building on our research on crayfish and fiddler crabs to examine deception in human sport; specifically, diving in soccer. Our work is also relevant to other fields like economics, political science, and psychology.
Our aims in this field
Our work on deception will enable us to:
- better understand the use of deception in animal communciation
- advise sports authorities in ways to reduce deception in games
- enhance game theoretic models