Anselme and Güntürkün (A&G) show that uncertainty about food leads to changes in foraging behavior, including more eating, weight gain, and hoarding. We propose that humans also engage in an analogous sort of hoarding of mental energy when confronted with uncertainty. The present commentary draws parallels between the research discussed in A&G's article and research on uncertainty in humans to demonstrate that uncertainty increases conservation of diverse resources and that information seeking extends beyond food.
Conserving mental energy
Previous research has indicated that uncertain individuals avoid expending precious mental energy on situations unrelated to the source of the uncertainty. Participants who were asked to think about an issue about which they were uncertain completed significantly fewer anagrams than participants in a control group (Alquist et al. Reference Alquist, Baumeister, McGregor, Core, Benjamin and Tice2018). Participants who were left uncertain about the kind of music they would soon hear were less likely to choose an educational article to read than participants who knew the kind of music they would hear (Milkman Reference Milkman2012). We also have performed unpublished studies indicating that being uncertain about a potentially bad outcome (might have to give a speech) causes participants to perform more poorly on an unrelated task than being certain of a bad outcome (definitely have to give a speech).
Lack of mental effort in such situations is unlikely to be due to an inability to expend mental effort, but is instead the result of conserving mental effort for future tasks. Muraven et al. (Reference Muraven, Shmueli and Burkley2006) reported that when mental energy is low, participants avoid expending all of their energy on one task to perform better on an anticipated following task. A&G's model demonstrates that fatter animals (who have stored up food) are better able to survive in uncertain environments. Individual differences in people's likelihood of conserving mental energy may similarly predict their success in uncertain circumstances. In the same way that many species respond to food uncertainty by storing additional food, humans also respond to uncertainty more broadly by conserving their mental energy on tasks unrelated to the uncertain situation.
Resolving uncertainty
A&G also discuss research on information seeking in response to food uncertainty. Although people conserve mental energy on tasks that are unrelated to the experienced uncertainty, they may demonstrate increased mental effort and attention toward the source of the uncertainty itself.
A&G's model proposes that although animals will not typically choose an uncertain reward over a certain reward, they are more responsive when rewards are not guaranteed. Research on humans with non-food rewards has also revealed evidence of both a preference against uncertainty and increased attention to uncertainty. When given the choice between a certain and an uncertain situation, even if both are positive, people typically prefer the situation with more certainty surrounding it (Kurtz et al. Reference Kurtz, Wilson and Gilbert2007; Wilson et al. Reference Wilson, Centerbar, Kermer and Gilbert2005). People even sometimes value a smaller reward of certain value (a lottery for $50) over a reward that could be the same amount or larger (a lottery for $50 or $100; Gneezy et al. Reference Gneezy, List and Wu2006; Simonsohn Reference Simonsohn2009).
Although people do not prefer uncertain situations, they do, however, seem to attend more to uncertain situations over certain situations when the uncertain situation is unavoidable. People remain happier longer if there is some uncertainty surrounding a reward they have received (Kurtz et al. Reference Kurtz, Wilson and Gilbert2007; Wilson et al. Reference Wilson, Centerbar, Kermer and Gilbert2005). This is due in part to the participants’ thinking more and remembering more about the situation when it is uncertain than when it is certain (Wilson et al. Reference Wilson, Centerbar, Kermer and Gilbert2005). Other research has indicated that when participants are assigned to utter phrases indicative of uncertainty (“I don't get it”), they report greater curiosity than when they are assigned to utter phrases indicative of certainty (“That makes sense”; Bar-Anan et al. Reference Bar-Anan, Wilson and Gilbert2009). As with finding food in an unpredictable environment, expending effort in uncertain situations may be worthwhile in the service of understanding and predicting the situation better in the future.
A&G provide an excellent overview of the research showing that animals become more reward sensitive and exhibit more hoarding behavior when food is uncertain. Broader uncertainties, such as not knowing what to expect next in a situation, have a less clear path for preparation. Nonetheless, people respond to uncertainty by conserving the mental energy available to them and becoming more sensitive to information related to the source of the uncertainty, fostering a sense of all-purpose preparedness. Such an approach would seemingly maximize one's ability to cope with the impending unknowns.
Full appreciation of uncertainty may require advanced metacognition, at least insofar as one has to recognize the limits and gaps in one's knowledge. Nevertheless, we extrapolate from the combination of human and animal findings to speculate that there may be a broadly adaptive default response to uncertainty: Conserve all resources, and heighten alertness.
Anselme and Güntürkün (A&G) show that uncertainty about food leads to changes in foraging behavior, including more eating, weight gain, and hoarding. We propose that humans also engage in an analogous sort of hoarding of mental energy when confronted with uncertainty. The present commentary draws parallels between the research discussed in A&G's article and research on uncertainty in humans to demonstrate that uncertainty increases conservation of diverse resources and that information seeking extends beyond food.
Conserving mental energy
Previous research has indicated that uncertain individuals avoid expending precious mental energy on situations unrelated to the source of the uncertainty. Participants who were asked to think about an issue about which they were uncertain completed significantly fewer anagrams than participants in a control group (Alquist et al. Reference Alquist, Baumeister, McGregor, Core, Benjamin and Tice2018). Participants who were left uncertain about the kind of music they would soon hear were less likely to choose an educational article to read than participants who knew the kind of music they would hear (Milkman Reference Milkman2012). We also have performed unpublished studies indicating that being uncertain about a potentially bad outcome (might have to give a speech) causes participants to perform more poorly on an unrelated task than being certain of a bad outcome (definitely have to give a speech).
Lack of mental effort in such situations is unlikely to be due to an inability to expend mental effort, but is instead the result of conserving mental effort for future tasks. Muraven et al. (Reference Muraven, Shmueli and Burkley2006) reported that when mental energy is low, participants avoid expending all of their energy on one task to perform better on an anticipated following task. A&G's model demonstrates that fatter animals (who have stored up food) are better able to survive in uncertain environments. Individual differences in people's likelihood of conserving mental energy may similarly predict their success in uncertain circumstances. In the same way that many species respond to food uncertainty by storing additional food, humans also respond to uncertainty more broadly by conserving their mental energy on tasks unrelated to the uncertain situation.
Resolving uncertainty
A&G also discuss research on information seeking in response to food uncertainty. Although people conserve mental energy on tasks that are unrelated to the experienced uncertainty, they may demonstrate increased mental effort and attention toward the source of the uncertainty itself.
A&G's model proposes that although animals will not typically choose an uncertain reward over a certain reward, they are more responsive when rewards are not guaranteed. Research on humans with non-food rewards has also revealed evidence of both a preference against uncertainty and increased attention to uncertainty. When given the choice between a certain and an uncertain situation, even if both are positive, people typically prefer the situation with more certainty surrounding it (Kurtz et al. Reference Kurtz, Wilson and Gilbert2007; Wilson et al. Reference Wilson, Centerbar, Kermer and Gilbert2005). People even sometimes value a smaller reward of certain value (a lottery for $50) over a reward that could be the same amount or larger (a lottery for $50 or $100; Gneezy et al. Reference Gneezy, List and Wu2006; Simonsohn Reference Simonsohn2009).
Although people do not prefer uncertain situations, they do, however, seem to attend more to uncertain situations over certain situations when the uncertain situation is unavoidable. People remain happier longer if there is some uncertainty surrounding a reward they have received (Kurtz et al. Reference Kurtz, Wilson and Gilbert2007; Wilson et al. Reference Wilson, Centerbar, Kermer and Gilbert2005). This is due in part to the participants’ thinking more and remembering more about the situation when it is uncertain than when it is certain (Wilson et al. Reference Wilson, Centerbar, Kermer and Gilbert2005). Other research has indicated that when participants are assigned to utter phrases indicative of uncertainty (“I don't get it”), they report greater curiosity than when they are assigned to utter phrases indicative of certainty (“That makes sense”; Bar-Anan et al. Reference Bar-Anan, Wilson and Gilbert2009). As with finding food in an unpredictable environment, expending effort in uncertain situations may be worthwhile in the service of understanding and predicting the situation better in the future.
A&G provide an excellent overview of the research showing that animals become more reward sensitive and exhibit more hoarding behavior when food is uncertain. Broader uncertainties, such as not knowing what to expect next in a situation, have a less clear path for preparation. Nonetheless, people respond to uncertainty by conserving the mental energy available to them and becoming more sensitive to information related to the source of the uncertainty, fostering a sense of all-purpose preparedness. Such an approach would seemingly maximize one's ability to cope with the impending unknowns.
Full appreciation of uncertainty may require advanced metacognition, at least insofar as one has to recognize the limits and gaps in one's knowledge. Nevertheless, we extrapolate from the combination of human and animal findings to speculate that there may be a broadly adaptive default response to uncertainty: Conserve all resources, and heighten alertness.