How search images limit competition: The role of attention in collective foraging.

Abstract

Many species forage collectively, and this will shape how they search for prey. However, theories of visual attention and search image formation have not considered social foraging, and studies of collective foraging rarely consider cognitive constraints. Here, we connected these ideas and present an agent-based model of collective foraging on cryptic prey in agents that either can or cannot form search images. Agents focused on one prey type reduce its local density, biasing other agents to form search images for other prey types. This effect, attentional character displacement, may reduce competition, as foragers occupy separate regions of "attention-space." We found that the ability to modulate attention increases distance in attention-space and reduces competition, improving success rates. Agents that cannot modulate their attention benefit from foraging with those that can. We also found that some top-down control of search is critical to taking advantage of this effect. This cognitive-ecological approach to modeling collective foraging suggests that competition is a critical driver of the evolution of search images. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).