title: Violations of transitivity under fitness maximization.
abstract: We present a novel demonstration that violations of transitive choice can result from decision strategies that maximize fitness. Our results depend on how the available options, including options not currently chosen, influence a decision-maker's expectations about the future. In particular, they depend on how the presence of an option may act as an insurance against a run of bad luck in the future.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Behavioural Biology, University of Bristol, Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1UG, UK.
authors.forename: Alasdair I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Houston
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: McNamara
authors.forename: Mark D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Steer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003657:Decision Making; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D008954:Models, Biological; D012098:Reproduction