Risk Sensitivity in Behavior: Where Are We Now? Introduction to the Symposium

Risk-sensitive behavior is the phenomenon of animals exhibiting preferences when offered choices whose outcomes differ in their degree of variance. It is now well demonstrated that many animals are sensitive to differences in the magnitude of variance in rewards. A considerable body of literature on risk sensitivity has been generated in recent years, encompassing theoretical and empirical work, from both functional and mechanistic approaches. Nevertheless, it is less than clear how animal preferences for variability are determined. It is therefore timely to look broadly at what has been accomplished, and to identify the most promising synthetic approaches for future work.