Figure 1.

Mistaken inferences are inevitable in stochastic environments. Strategies for responding to experience are transmitted from parent to offspring (left side); it is these strategies that evolve. But the behaviors that individuals express arise through the interactions between response strategies and stochastic environmental stimuli (right side). Some behavior will end up being sub-optimal because by chance some stimuli will be misleading. Working within this framework, Trimmer et al. show that even with the optimal response strategy, some individuals will undergo uncharacteristic experiences and thus behave inappropriately given circumstances. Moreover, some of these individuals may retreat from further activity and thereby fail to gain additional information that could correct their misperceptions.