Swarm intelligence in animal groups: when can a collective out-perform an expert?

ABSTRACT: An important potential advantage of group-living that has been mostly neglected by life scientists is that individuals in animal groups may cope more effectively with unfamiliar situations. Social interaction can provide a solution to a cognitive problem that is not available to single individuals via two potential mechanisms: (i) individuals can aggregate information, thus augmenting their 'collective cognition', or (ii) interaction with conspecifics can allow individuals to follow specific 'leaders', those experts with information particularly relevant to the decision at hand. However, a-priori, theory-based expectations about which of these decision rules should be preferred are lacking. Using a set of simple models, we present theoretical conditions (involving group size, and diversity

SUBMITTER: Katsikopoulos KV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2991365 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature