Perception is central to an individual’s survival as it affects its ability to gather resources. Consequently, the costs associated with the process of perception are partially shaped by resource availability. Understanding the interplay of environmental factors (such as resource density and its distribution) with biological factors (such as growth rate, perceptual radius, and metabolic costs) allows the exploration of possible trajectories by which perception may evolve. We used a complex systems perspective by employing an agent-based model in lieu of alternative approaches involving deterministic equations. We incorporated a context-dependent movement strategy for each agent where it switches between undirected (random walk) and directed (advective) movement based on its perception of resources. To supply additional biological realism, we investigated evolution in a reproductive context, imposing limits on the amount of resources an individual can gather and store and exploring a wide range of initial conditions and parametric scenarios.
Results/Conclusions
Focusing on the evolved distribution of perceptual radius, we observed a nonlinear, non-monotonic response as a function of resource density. We found that the distribution of perceptual radii as a function of resources quickly converged to a sharp peak and then increased in variance. Resources play a major role in determining the stability of equilibria of the system, controlling whether or not perceptual ranges emerge at all. In addition, we found that the system’s behavior mirrored some biological aspects, with evolved perceptual abilities depending on metabolic and energetic costs.