Figure 1. Consumption behavior and performance for automatic and controlled processing.

(A) An automatic agent immediately and fully consumes any resource it encounters with probability 1 - C. A controlled agent uses its current energy level, how much it has stored, and the likelihood of finding resources, to determine the optimal amount to consume now versus store for later consumption (with probability C). However, controlled agents lose resources to the faster automatic agents when they are present simultaneously. (B) Sample energy levels over time for two agents: one using only automatic processing (red line), and the other using only controlled processing (blue line). The automatic agent experiences large, transient increases to its energy level, while the controlled agent maintains a higher mean energy level by storing resources and using them more efficiently. Energy levels are shown relative to worst possible mean performance (no consumed resources over the entire simulation).