Citation:
Tamar Keasar, Ella Rashkovich, Dan Cohen, and Avi Shmida. “Foraging Bees In Two-Armed Bandit Situations: Laboratory Experiments And Possible Decision Rules”. Discussion Papers 2000. Web.
Abstract:
In multi-armed bandit situations, gamblers must choose repeatedly between options that differ in reward probability, without prior information on the options' relative profitability. Foraging bumblebees encounter similar situations when choosing repeatedly among flower species that differ in food rewards. Unlike proficient gamblers, bumblebees do not choose the highest-rewarding option exclusively. We simulated two-armed bandit situations in laboratory experiments to characterize this choice behavior.