scholarly journals Cultural influence of social information use in pedestrian road-crossing behaviours

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 160739 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Pelé ◽  
Caroline Bellut ◽  
Elise Debergue ◽  
Charlotte Gauvin ◽  
Anne Jeanneret ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Red Light ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Information Use ◽  
The Road ◽  
Collective Decisions ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Social Information Use ◽  
Road Crossing

Social information use is common in a wide range of group-living animals, notably in humans. The role it plays in decision-making could be a key to understanding how social groups make collective decisions. The observation of road-crossing behaviours in the presence of other individuals is an ideal means to study the influence of social information on decision-making. This study investigated the influence of culture on social information used by pedestrians in a potentially dangerous scenario, namely road crossing. We scored the collective crossing of pedestrians at four locations in Nagoya (Japan) and three locations in Strasbourg (France). French pedestrians cross against the lights much more often (41.9%) than Japanese ones (2.1%). Individuals deciding to cross the road were strongly influenced by the behaviour and the presence of other pedestrians, especially in Japan, where a stronger conformism was noted. However, Japanese pedestrians were half as likely to be influenced by social information as their French counterparts when crossing at the red light, as they were more respectful of rules. Men show riskier behaviour than women (40.6% versus 25.7% of rule-breaking, respectively), deciding quickly and setting off earlier than women. Further related studies could help target specific preventive, culture-specific solutions for pedestrian safety.

scholarly journals Collective decision making by rational individuals

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (44) ◽  
pp. E10387-E10396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard P. Mann
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Information Use ◽  
Collective Decision ◽  
Collective Decision Making ◽  
Rational Decision ◽  
Rational Decision Making ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Social Information Use

The patterns and mechanisms of collective decision making in humans and animals have attracted both empirical and theoretical attention. Of particular interest has been the variety of social feedback rules and the extent to which these behavioral rules can be explained and predicted from theories of rational estimation and decision making. However, models that aim to model the full range of social information use have incorporated ad hoc departures from rational decision-making theory to explain the apparent stochasticity and variability of behavior. In this paper I develop a model of social information use and collective decision making by fully rational agents that reveals how a wide range of apparently stochastic social decision rules emerge from fundamental information asymmetries both between individuals and between the decision makers and the observer of those decisions. As well as showing that rational decision making is consistent with empirical observations of collective behavior, this model makes several testable predictions about how individuals make decisions in groups and offers a valuable perspective on how we view sources of variability in animal, and human, behavior.

scholarly journals Collective decision making by rational individuals

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard P. Mann
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Information Use ◽  
Collective Decision ◽  
Collective Decision Making ◽  
Rational Decision ◽  
Rational Decision Making ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Social Information Use

The patterns and mechanisms of collective decision making in humans and animals have attracted both empirical and theoretical attention. Of particular interest has been the variety of social feedback rules, and the extent to which these behavioural rules can be explained and predicted from theories of rational estimation and decision making. However, models that aim to model the full range of social information use have incorporated ad hoc departures from rational decision-making theory to explain the apparent stochasticity and variability of behaviour. In this paper I develop a model of social information use and collective decision making by fully rational agents that reveals how a wide range of apparently stochastic social decision rules emerge from fundamental information asymmetries both between individuals, and between the decision-makers and the observer of those decisions. As well as showing that rational decision making is consistent with empirical observations of collective behaviour, this model makes several testable predictions about how individuals make decisions in groups, and offers a valuable perspective on how we view sources of variability in animal, and human, behaviour.

scholarly journals Eurasian jays do not copy the choices of conspecifics, but they do show evidence of stimulus enhancement

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachael Miller ◽  
Corina J Logan ◽  
Katherine Lister ◽  
Nicola S Clayton
Keyword(s):  
Discrimination Task ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Information Use ◽  
Social Situation ◽  
Colour Discrimination ◽  
New Caledonian Crow ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Social Information Use ◽  
Explicit Training

Corvids (birds in the crow family) are hypothesised to have a general cognitive tool-kit because they show a wide range of transferrable skills across social, physical and temporal tasks, despite differences in socioecology. However, it is unknown whether relatively asocial corvids differ from social corvids in their use of social information in the context of copying the choices of others, because only one such test has been conducted in a relatively asocial corvid. We investigated whether relatively asocial Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius) use social information (i.e., information made available by others). Previous studies have indicated that jays attend to social context in their caching and mate provisioning behaviour; however, it is unknown whether jays copy the choices of others. We tested the jays in two different tasks varying in difficulty, where social corvid species have demonstrated social information use in both tasks. Firstly, an object-dropping task was conducted requiring objects to be dropped down a tube to release a food reward from a collapsible platform, which corvids can learn through explicit training. Only one rook and one New Caledonian crow have learned the task using social information from a demonstrator. Secondly, we tested the birds on a simple colour discrimination task, which should be easy to solve, because it has been shown that corvids can make colour discriminations. Using the same colour discrimination task in a previous study, all common ravens and carrion crows copied the demonstrator. After observing a conspecific demonstrator, none of the jays solved the object-dropping task, though all jays were subsequently able to learn to solve the task in a non-social situation through explicit training, and jays chose the demonstrated colour at chance levels. Our results suggest that social and relatively asocial corvids differ in social information use, indicating that relatively asocial species may have secondarily lost this ability due to lack of selection pressure from an asocial environment.

scholarly journals Eurasian jays do not copy the choices of conspecifics, but they do show evidence of stimulus enhancement

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachael Miller ◽  
Corina J Logan ◽  
Katherine Lister ◽  
Nicola S Clayton
Keyword(s):  
Discrimination Task ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Information Use ◽  
Social Situation ◽  
Colour Discrimination ◽  
New Caledonian Crow ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Social Information Use ◽  
Explicit Training

Corvids (birds in the crow family) are hypothesised to have a general cognitive tool-kit because they show a wide range of transferrable skills across social, physical and temporal tasks, despite differences in socioecology. However, it is unknown whether relatively asocial corvids differ from social corvids in their use of social information in the context of copying the choices of others, because only one such test has been conducted in a relatively asocial corvid. We investigated whether relatively asocial Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius) use social information (i.e., information made available by others). Previous studies have indicated that jays attend to social context in their caching and mate provisioning behaviour; however, it is unknown whether jays copy the choices of others. We tested the jays in two different tasks varying in difficulty, where social corvid species have demonstrated social information use in both tasks. Firstly, an object-dropping task was conducted requiring objects to be dropped down a tube to release a food reward from a collapsible platform, which corvids can learn through explicit training. Only one rook and one New Caledonian crow have learned the task using social information from a demonstrator. Secondly, we tested the birds on a simple colour discrimination task, which should be easy to solve, because it has been shown that corvids can make colour discriminations. Using the same colour discrimination task in a previous study, all common ravens and carrion crows copied the demonstrator. After observing a conspecific demonstrator, none of the jays solved the object-dropping task, though all jays were subsequently able to learn to solve the task in a non-social situation through explicit training, and jays chose the demonstrated colour at chance levels. Our results suggest that social and relatively asocial corvids differ in social information use, indicating that relatively asocial species may have secondarily lost this ability due to lack of selection pressure from an asocial environment.

scholarly journals Eurasian jays do not copy the choices of conspecifics, but they do show evidence of stimulus enhancement

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e2746 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachael Miller ◽  
Corina J. Logan ◽  
Katherine Lister ◽  
Nicola S. Clayton
Keyword(s):  
Discrimination Task ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Information Use ◽  
Social Situation ◽  
Colour Discrimination ◽  
New Caledonian Crow ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Social Information Use ◽  
Explicit Training

Corvids (birds in the crow family) are hypothesised to have a general cognitive tool-kit because they show a wide range of transferrable skills across social, physical and temporal tasks, despite differences in socioecology. However, it is unknown whether relatively asocial corvids differ from social corvids in their use of social information in the context of copying the choices of others, because only one such test has been conducted in a relatively asocial corvid. We investigated whether relatively asocial Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius) use social information (i.e., information made available by others). Previous studies have indicated that jays attend to social context in their caching and mate provisioning behaviour; however, it is unknown whether jays copy the choices of others. We tested the jays in two different tasks varying in difficulty, where social corvid species have demonstrated social information use in both tasks. Firstly, an object-dropping task was conducted requiring objects to be dropped down a tube to release a food reward from a collapsible platform, which corvids can learn through explicit training. Only one rook and one New Caledonian crow have learned the task using social information from a demonstrator. Secondly, we tested the birds on a simple colour discrimination task, which should be easy to solve, because it has been shown that corvids can make colour discriminations. Using the same colour discrimination task in a previous study, all common ravens and carrion crows copied the demonstrator. After observing a conspecific demonstrator, none of the jays solved the object-dropping task, though all jays were subsequently able to learn to solve the task in a non-social situation through explicit training, and jays chose the demonstrated colour at chance levels. Our results suggest that social and relatively asocial corvids differ in social information use, indicating that relatively asocial species may have secondarily lost this ability due to lack of selection pressure from an asocial environment.

scholarly journals Decision-Making Processes Underlying Pedestrian Behaviors at Signalized Crossings: Part 2. Do Pedestrians Show Cultural Herding Behavior?

Safety ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pelé ◽  
Deneubourg ◽  
Sueur
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Red Light ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
The Road ◽  
Social Coordination ◽  
Personal Motivation ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Transportation Research ◽  
Mimetic Behavior ◽  
Road Crossing

Followership is generally defined as a strategy that evolved to solve social coordination problems, and particularly those involved in group movement. Followership behavior is particularly interesting in the context of road-crossing behavior because it involves other principles such as risk-taking and evaluating the value of social information. This study sought to identify the cognitive mechanisms underlying decision-making by pedestrians who follow another person across the road at the green or at the red light in two different countries (France and Japan). We used agent-based modelling to simulate the road-crossing behaviors of pedestrians. This study showed that modelling is a reliable means to test different hypotheses and find the processes underlying decision-making when crossing the road. We found that two processes suffice to simulate pedestrian behaviors: personal motivation and imitation. Importantly, the study revealed differences between the two nationalities and between sexes in the decision to follow and cross at the green and at the red light. Japanese pedestrians showed a greater mimetic behavior at the red light but the process takes into account both the number of crossing and waiting pedestrians, contrary to French citizens. Finally, the simulations are revealed to be similar to observations, not only for the departure latencies but also for the number of crossing pedestrians and the rates of illegal crossings. The conclusion suggests new solutions for safety in transportation research.

scholarly journals Frequency-dependent payoffs and sequential decision-making favour consistent tactic use

2012 ◽  
Vol 279 (1735) ◽  
pp. 1977-1985 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frédérique Dubois ◽  
Luc-Alain Giraldeau ◽  
Denis Réale
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Information Use ◽  
Sequential Decision Making ◽  
Sequential Decision ◽  
Frequency Dependent ◽  
Foraging Area ◽  
Social Information Use ◽  
Types Of Information ◽  
Sequential Frequency

Although natural selection should have favoured individuals capable of adjusting the weight they give to personal and social information according to circumstances, individuals generally differ consistently in their individual weighting of both types of information. Such individual differences are correlated with personality traits, suggesting that personality could directly affect individuals’ ability to collect personal or social information. Alternatively, the link between personality and information use could simply emerge as a by-product of the sequential decision-making process in a frequency-dependent context. Indeed, when the gains associated with behavioural options depend on the choices of others, an individual's sequence of arrival could constrain its choice of options leading to the emergence of correlated behaviours. Any factor such as personality that affects decision order could thus be correlated with information use. To test this new explanation, we developed an individual-based model that simulates a group of animals engaged in a game of sequential frequency-dependent decision: a producer–scrounger game. Our results confirm that the sequence of decision, in this case enforced by the order in which animals enter a foraging area, consistently influences their mean tactic use and their individual plasticity, an outcome reminiscent of the correlation reported between personality and social information use.

scholarly journals Experience shapes social information use in foraging fish

2018 ◽  
Vol 146 ◽  
pp. 63-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike M. Webster ◽  
Kevin N. Laland
Keyword(s):  
Social Information ◽  
Information Use ◽  
Social Information Use
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