Decision-making in a social world: Integrating cognitive ecology and social neuroscience

Understanding animal decision-making involves simultaneously dissecting and reconstructing processes across levels of biological organization, such as behavior, physiology, and brain function, as well as considering the environment in which decisions are made. Over the past few decades, foundational breakthroughs originating from a variety of model systems and disciplines have painted an increasingly comprehensive picture of how individuals sense information, process it, and subsequently modify behavior or states. Still, our understanding of decision-making in social contexts is far from complete and requires integrating novel approaches and perspectives. The fields of social neuroscience and cognitive ecology have approached social decision-making from orthogonal perspectives. The integration of these perspectives (and fields) is critical in developing comprehensive and testable theories of the brain.

Automated summary

Understanding animal decision-making involves dissecting and reconstructing processes across different biological levels and considering the decision-making environment. Although there have been foundational breakthroughs, our understanding of decision-making in social contexts is incomplete, requiring integration of novel approaches and perspectives. Social neuroscience and cognitive ecology have provided orthogonal perspectives on social decision-making, and integrating these fields is crucial for developing comprehensive and testable theories of the brain.