Searching for structure in collective systems

AbstractCollective systems such as fish schools, bird flocks, and neural networks are comprised of many mutually-influencing individuals, often without long-term leaders, well-defined hierarchies, or persistent relationships. The remarkably organized group-level behaviors readily observable in these systems contrast with the ad hoc, often difficult to observe, and complex interactions among their constituents. While these complex individual-level dynamics are ultimately the drivers of group-level coordination, they do not necessarily offer the most parsimonious description of a group’s macroscopic properties. Rather, the factors underlying group organization may be better described at some intermediate, mesoscopic scale. We introduce a novel method from information-theoretic first principles to find a compressed description of a system based on the actions and mutual dependencies of its constituents, thus revealing the natural structure of the collective. We emphasize that this method is computationally tractable and requires neither pairwise nor Gaussian assumptions about individual interactions.

Download Full-text

The individually-targeted habit-breaking intervention and group-level change

10.31237/osf.io/4t7fy ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Patrick S. Forscher

Keyword(s):

Academic Departments ◽

Group Level ◽

Collaborative Relationships ◽

Individual Level ◽

Level Change ◽

Sources Of Knowledge ◽

The Individual ◽

Societal Problems ◽

The Relationship

Psychologists wishing to resolve societal problems typically develop interventions that target individuals. However, many societal problems, such as disparities in hiring, are not caused solely by the actions of individuals operating independently. In two studies, including a field experiment in academic departments randomized at the cluster level and a lab experiment randomized at the individual level, my dissertation explores the relationship between the individual-level change produced by the individually-targeted, prejudice habit-breaking intervention (Devine et al., 2012) and group-level change. The results suggest that the effects of the habit-breaking intervention at the individual level can produce group-level change, at least in the context of the long-term collaborative relationships that characterize academic departments. However, the habit-breaking intervention can also lead its targets to view strangers as less credible sources of knowledge about social disparities. In addition to its considerable practical implications, the present findings highlight the utility of studying individual-level phenomena in group contexts and provide a potential roadmap for doing so.

Download Full-text

Bad Apples: The Relationship Between Individual-level and Group-level Dynamics

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e566002007-001 ◽

2006 ◽

Author(s):

Jaclyn S. Turner ◽

Kristen Fox ◽

David Pincus

Keyword(s):

Group Level ◽

Individual Level ◽

The Relationship

Download Full-text

Reply to Connor and Evers (2020): Critique of the Bias of Crowds Model Simply Restates the Model

10.31234/osf.io/ph7yt ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Keith Payne ◽

Heidi A. Vuletich ◽

Kristjen B. Lundberg

Keyword(s):

Implicit Bias ◽

Group Level ◽

Systemic Racism ◽

Individual Level ◽

The Core ◽

Psychological Science ◽

Implicit Biases ◽

The Individual

The Bias of Crowds model (Payne, Vuletich, & Lundberg, 2017) argues that implicit bias varies across individuals and across contexts. It is unreliable and weakly associated with behavior at the individual level. But when aggregated to measure context-level effects, the scores become stable and predictive of group-level outcomes. We concluded that the statistical benefits of aggregation are so powerful that researchers should reconceptualize implicit bias as a feature of contexts, and ask new questions about how implicit biases relate to systemic racism. Connor and Evers (2020) critiqued the model, but their critique simply restates the core claims of the model. They agreed that implicit bias varies across individuals and across contexts; that it is unreliable and weakly associated with behavior at the individual level; and that aggregating scores to measure context-level effects makes them more stable and predictive of group-level outcomes. Connor and Evers concluded that implicit bias should be considered to really be noisily measured individual construct because the effects of aggregation are merely statistical. We respond to their specific arguments and then discuss what it means to really be a feature of persons versus situations, and multilevel measurement and theory in psychological science more broadly.

Download Full-text

Visual Saliency Detection: An Information Theoretic Algorithm Combined Long-term with Short-term Features

JOURNAL OF ELECTRONICS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ◽

10.3724/sp.j.1146.2012.01251 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 35 (7) ◽

pp. 1636-1643

Author(s):

Xiao-liang Qian ◽

Lei Guo ◽

Jun-wei Han ◽

Xin-tao Hu ◽

Gong Cheng

Keyword(s):

Saliency Detection ◽

Visual Saliency ◽

Short Term ◽

Information Theoretic ◽

Visual Saliency Detection

Download Full-text

Creativity in Sociocultural Systems

The Oxford Handbook of Group Creativity and Innovation ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190648077.013.16 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 269-284

Author(s):

Dean Keith Simonton

Keyword(s):

Macro Level ◽

Historical Overview ◽

Creative Activity ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Individual Level ◽

Short And Long Term ◽

The Cross ◽

Sociocultural Systems

Although psychologists typically see creativity as an individual-level event, sociologists and cultural anthropologists are more likely to view it as a sociocultural phenomenon. This phenomenon takes place at the level of relatively large and enduring collectives, such as cultures, nations, and even whole civilizations. This chapter reviews the extensive research on such macro-level creativity. The review begins with a historical overview before turning to the cross-sectional research on the creative Ortgeist, a subject that encompasses the factors that influence the relative creativity of both preliterate cultures and entire modern nations. From there the chapter turns to role of the Zeitgeist in affecting the creativity of civilizations across time—the rise and fall of creative activity. This research examines both quantitative and qualitative causes that operate both short- and long-term.

Download Full-text

Climate drivers of plague epidemiology in British India, 1898–1949

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2020.0538 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 287 (1928) ◽

pp. 20200538

Author(s):

Warren S. D. Tennant ◽

Mike J. Tildesley ◽

Simon E. F. Spencer ◽

Matt J. Keeling

Keyword(s):

Predictive Models ◽

Control Measures ◽

Climate Data ◽

British India ◽

Middle Income ◽

Middle Income Countries ◽

Complex Interactions ◽

The World ◽

Spatio Temporal

Plague, caused by Yersinia pestis infection, continues to threaten low- and middle-income countries throughout the world. The complex interactions between rodents and fleas with their respective environments challenge our understanding of human plague epidemiology. Historical long-term datasets of reported plague cases offer a unique opportunity to elucidate the effects of climate on plague outbreaks in detail. Here, we analyse monthly plague deaths and climate data from 25 provinces in British India from 1898 to 1949 to generate insights into the influence of temperature, rainfall and humidity on the occurrence, severity and timing of plague outbreaks. We find that moderate relative humidity levels of between 60% and 80% were strongly associated with outbreaks. Using wavelet analysis, we determine that the nationwide spread of plague was driven by changes in humidity, where, on average, a one-month delay in the onset of rising humidity translated into a one-month delay in the timing of plague outbreaks. This work can inform modern spatio-temporal predictive models for the disease and aid in the development of early-warning strategies for the deployment of prophylactic treatments and other control measures.

Download Full-text

Examining the Effects of Three Group-Level Metacognitive Scaffoldings on In-Service Teachers’ Knowledge Building

Journal of Educational Computing Research ◽

10.1177/07356331211030847 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 073563312110308

Author(s):

Fan Ouyang ◽

Si Chen ◽

Yuqin Yang ◽

Yunqing Chen

Keyword(s):

Small Groups ◽

Mixed Method ◽

Peer Interactions ◽

Knowledge Building ◽

Group Level ◽

Question Asking ◽

Individual Level ◽

The Individual ◽

Task Oriented ◽

Metacognitive Scaffolding

Group-level metacognitive scaffolding is critical for productive knowledge building. However, previous research mainly focuses on the individual-level metacognitive scaffoldings in helping learners improve knowledge building, and little effort has been made to develop group-level metacognitive scaffolding (GMS) for knowledge building. This research designed three group-level metacognitive scaffoldings of general, task-oriented, and idea-oriented scaffoldings to facilitate in-service teachers’ knowledge building in small groups. A mixed method is used to examine the effects of the GMSs on groups’ knowledge building processes, performances, and perceptions. Results indicate a complication of the effects of GMSs on knowledge building. The idea-oriented scaffolding has potential to facilitate question-asking and perspective-proposing inquiry through peer interactions; the general scaffolding does not necessarily lessen teachers’ idea-centered explanation and elaboration on the individual level; the task-oriented scaffolding has the worst effect. Pedagogical and research implications are discussed to foster knowledge building with the support of GMSs.

Download Full-text

Pluralistic Ignorance Research in Psychology: A Scoping Review of Topic and Method Variation and Directions for Future Research

Review of General Psychology ◽

10.1177/1089268021995168 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 108926802199516

Author(s):

Rikki H. Sargent ◽

Leonard S. Newman

Keyword(s):

Scoping Review ◽

Future Research ◽

Pluralistic Ignorance ◽

Group Level ◽

Conceptual Approach ◽

Individual Level ◽

Group Members

Pluralistic ignorance occurs when group members mistakenly believe others’ cognitions and/or behaviors are systematically different from their own. More than 20 years have passed since the last review of pluralistic ignorance from a psychological framework, with more than 60 empirical articles assessing pluralistic ignorance published since then. Previous reviews took an almost entirely conceptual approach with minimal review of methodology, making existing reviews outdated and limited in the extent to which they can provide guidelines for researchers. The goal of this review is to evaluate and integrate the literature on pluralistic ignorance, clarify important conceptual issues, identify inconsistencies in the literature, and provide guidance for future research. We provide a comprehensive definition for the phenomenon, with a focus on its status as a group-level phenomenon. We highlight three areas of variation in particular in the current scoping review: variation in topics assessed, variation in measurement, and (especially) variation in methods for assessing the implications of individual-level misperceptions that, in aggregate, lead to pluralistic ignorance. By filling these gaps in the literature, we ultimately hope to motivate further analysis of the phenomenon.

Download Full-text