Costs of Learning

Understanding the costs of learning may allow us to understand variation in learning abilities across species. The costs of learning stem from the costs of obtaining information, whether acquisition, processing or storage. The costs of acquiring information are present at the behavioral level in terms of the time, energy, and risk associated with sampling a range of behavioral traits and environments. The costs of information processing and storage come at the tissue level, in terms of the energy required to develop, maintain, and use neural tissue. The costs of learning may result in life history trade-offs or they may select for changes in development that reduce such information costs.