Fig. 1

Characterising strategic decisions. Research usually focuses on either resource value or RHP and their influence on outcome and cost management, e.g. faster retreat by weaker animals. These effects are assumed to rely on the fixed use of assessment strategies, and their effect on behaviour is considered an expression of the contestants’ drive to fight, i.e. their motivation. To characterise the complexity of strategic decisions we argue that integrative studies of the combined effects from RHP and resource value should explicitly test these assumptions by examining (i) progressive changes in decisions and (ii) the inter-play between motivation and assessment, and by (iii) characterising all behavioural output instead of only contest duration and outcome