scholarly journals Response thresholds alone cannot explain empirical patterns of division of labor in social insects

PLoS Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. e3001269
Author(s):  
Yuko Ulrich ◽  
Mari Kawakatsu ◽  
Christopher K. Tokita ◽  
Jonathan Saragosti ◽  
Vikram Chandra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Social Insects ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Distinct Pattern ◽  
Response Threshold ◽  
Behavioral Differences ◽  
Theoretical Predictions ◽  
Threshold Variation ◽  
Task Efficiency ◽  
The Impact

The effects of heterogeneity in group composition remain a major hurdle to our understanding of collective behavior across disciplines. In social insects, division of labor (DOL) is an emergent, colony-level trait thought to depend on colony composition. Theoretically, behavioral response threshold models have most commonly been employed to investigate the impact of heterogeneity on DOL. However, empirical studies that systematically test their predictions are lacking because they require control over colony composition and the ability to monitor individual behavior in groups, both of which are challenging. Here, we employ automated behavioral tracking in 120 colonies of the clonal raider ant with unparalleled control over genetic, morphological, and demographic composition. We find that each of these sources of variation in colony composition generates a distinct pattern of behavioral organization, ranging from the amplification to the dampening of inherent behavioral differences in heterogeneous colonies. Furthermore, larvae modulate interactions between adults, exacerbating the apparent complexity. Models based on threshold variation alone only partially recapitulate these empirical patterns. However, by incorporating the potential for variability in task efficiency among adults and task demand among larvae, we account for all the observed phenomena. Our findings highlight the significance of previously overlooked parameters pertaining to both larvae and workers, allow the formulation of theoretical predictions for increasing colony complexity, and suggest new avenues of empirical study.

scholarly journals Growth Impacts of Income Inequality: Empirical Evidence From Nigeria

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 226
Author(s):  
Ademola Obafemi Young
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Growth Time ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Developed Economies ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
Property Rights Protection ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Theoretical Predictions ◽  
The Impact

The debate on whether income inequality promotes, restricts, or is independent of economic growth has been widely studied and discussed in development economics discourse. However, a careful reading of this extensive extant and burgeoning literature suggests that, other than the ambivalent nature and the fact that the bulk of these studies relied heavily on cross-section/-country/panel econometric analysis, empirical studies examining the nexus in the context of less developed economies, particularly, African countries, has received less attention, as most of the extant studies predominantly focused on developed economies. This current study, thus, attempts to examine the impact of inequality on growth in Nigeria spanning between the period 1970 and 2018. It also examined the theoretical predictions of some of the distinct transmission channels through which inequality impacts growth. Time series econometrics were applied. The results obtained consistently revealed that inequality hurts long-run growth in Nigeria. Also, the results obtained revealed that inequality in income increases relative redistribution and fertility, but lessens investment, gross enrollment ratio, and property rights protection in Nigeria, which may in turn impede growth.

Division of Labor and Task Allocation

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Bonabeau ◽  
Marco Dorigo ◽  
Guy Theraulaz
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Social Insects ◽  
Task Allocation ◽  
Multiagent System ◽  
Threshold Model ◽  
Response Threshold ◽  
Response Threshold Model ◽  
Response Thresholds ◽  
Colony Level

Many species of social insects have a division of labor. The resilience of task allocation exhibited at the colony level is connected to the elasticity of individual workers. The behavioral repertoire of workers can be stretched back and forth in response to perturbations. A model based on response thresholds connects individual-level plasticity with colony-level resiliency and can account for some important experimental results. Response thresholds refer to likelihood of reacting to task-associated stimuli. Low-threshold individuals perform tasks at a lower level of stimulus than high-threshold individuals. An extension of this model includes a simple form of learning. Within individual workers, performing a given task induces a decrease of the corresponding threshold, and not performing the task induces an increase of the threshold. This double reinforcement process leads to the emergence of specialized workers, that is, workers that are more responsive to stimuli associated with particular task requirements, from a group of initially identical individuals. The fixed response threshold model can be used to allocate tasks in a multiagent system, in a way that is similar to market-based models, where agents bid to get resources or perform tasks. The response threshold model with learning can be used to generate differentiation in task performance in a multiagent system composed of initially identical entities. Task allocation in this case is emergent and more robust with respect to perturbations of the system than when response thresholds are fixed. An example application to distributed mail retrieval is presented. In social insects, different activities are often performed simultaneously by specialized individuals. This phenomenon is called division of labor [253, 272]. Simultaneous task performance by specialized workers is believed to be more efficient than sequential task performance by unspecialized workers [188, 253]. Parallelism avoids task switching, which costs energy and time. Specialization allows greater efficiency of individuals in task performance because they “know” the task or are better equipped for it. All social insects exhibit reproductive division of labor: only a small fraction of the colony, often limited to a single individual, reproduces.

ADAPTING TO DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENTS: POLYETHISM IN RESPONSE THRESHOLD MODELS FOR SOCIAL INSECTS

2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (03) ◽  
pp. 327-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
KONRAD DIWOLD ◽  
DANIEL MERKLE ◽  
MARTIN MIDDENDORF
Keyword(s):  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Social Insects ◽  
Dynamic Environments ◽  
Response Threshold ◽  
Migration Behavior ◽  
Threshold Models ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Learning Rates ◽  
Activity Onset ◽  
Varying Demand

Response threshold models are an important tool to model division of labor in social insects and to investigate the underlying principles of self-organization. In this article response threshold models which incorporate dynamic environments with varying demand for work and their influence on division of labor are studied. In their natural habitats, social insects are always exposed to dynamic environments, however, the effect that such environments have on response threshold models has rarely been investigated. In the course of this article it is shown that overworking and underworking, i.e. working more or less than the ideal amount, over a certain time is a colony-size dependent effect in dynamic situations. By adjusting the number of possible learning steps, which correspond to changes in the maximal threshold values relative to a colony's size, the performance of colonies in dynamic environments can be increased. A setup inspired by repeated migration behavior is also investigated. It is shown that these different learning rates affect a colony's ability to maintain an activity onset for a reappearing task.

Dampak Kebijakan Moneter Pada Output Di Negara-Negara ASEAN Tahun 1980-2014

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-70
Author(s):  
Nur Widiastuti
Keyword(s):  
Monetary Policy ◽  
Interest Rate ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Fixed Effects Model ◽  
State Data ◽  
Ordinary Least Square ◽  
The Impact

The Impact of monetary Policy on Ouput is an ambiguous. The results of previous empirical studies indicate that the impact can be a positive or negative relationship. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of monetary policy on Output more detail. The variables to estimatate monetery poicy are used state and board interest rate andrate. This research is conducted by Ordinary Least Square or Instrumental Variabel, method for 5 countries ASEAN. The state data are estimated for the period of 1980 – 2014. Based on the results, it can be concluded that the impact of monetary policy on Output shown are varied.Keyword: Monetary Policy, Output, Panel Data, Fixed Effects Model

Competition Policy under Economic Crisis

2009 ◽  
pp. 54-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Shastitko ◽  
S. Avdasheva ◽  
S. Golovanova
Keyword(s):  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Industrial Policy ◽  
Competition Policy ◽  
Transition Economy ◽  
Economic Recession ◽  
Price Rigidity ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Policy Measures ◽  
The Impact

The analysis of competition policy under economic crisis is motivated by the fact that competition is a key factor for the level of productivity. The latter, in its turn, influences the scope and length of economic recession. In many Russian markets buyers' gains decline because of the weakness of competition, since suppliers are reluctant to cut prices in spite of the decreasing demand. Data on prices in Russia and abroad in the second half of 2008 show asymmetric price rigidity. At least two questions are important under economic crisis: the 'division of labor' between pro-active and protective tools of competition policy and the impact of anti-crisis policy on competition. Protective competition policy is insufficient in transition economy, especially in the days of crisis it should be supplemented with the well-designed industrial policy measures which do not contradict the goals of competition. The preferable tools of anti-crisis policy are also those that do not restrain competition.

Instability and Collapse in Discrete Wave Equations

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-241
Author(s):  
A. Carpio ◽  
G. Duro
Keyword(s):  
Continuum Limit ◽  
Wave Equations ◽  
Numerical Solutions ◽  
Blow Up ◽  
Theoretical Predictions ◽  
Initial States ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Continuum

AbstractUnstable growth phenomena in spatially discrete wave equations are studied. We characterize sets of initial states leading to instability and collapse and obtain analytical predictions for the blow-up time. The theoretical predictions are con- trasted with the numerical solutions computed by a variety of schemes. The behavior of the systems in the continuum limit and the impact of discreteness and friction are discussed.

Designing a creative programming unit within the elementary school core curriculum

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yumiko Murai ◽  
Ryohei Ikejiri ◽  
Yuhei Yamauchi ◽  
Ai Tanaka ◽  
Seiko Nakano
Keyword(s):  
Core Curriculum ◽  
Design Research ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
School Curriculum ◽  
Educational Design ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Educational Design Research ◽  
Creative Learning ◽  
Uncertain Future ◽  
The Impact

Cultivating children’s creativity and imagination is fundamental to preparing them for an increasingly complex and uncertain future. Engaging in creative learning enables children to think independently and critically, work cooperatively, and take risks while actively engaging in problem solving. While current trends in education, such as maker movements and computer science education, are dramatically expanding children’s opportunities for engagement in creative learning, comparatively few empirical studies explore how creative learning can be integrated into the school curriculum. The educational design research described in this paper focuses on a curriculum unit that enables students to engage with creative learning through computer programming activities while meeting curriculum goals. The data provided in this paper were drawn from three classroom tryouts, the results of which were used to drive an iterative design process. This paper also shares several insights on the impact of creative learning in curriculum teaching.

The Impact of Speculation on Commodity Futures A Review of the Findings of 100 Empirical Studies

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Haase ◽  
Yvonne Seiler ◽  
Heinz Zimmermann
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Commodity Futures ◽  
The Impact

Behavioral Law and Economics

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eyal Zamir ◽  
Doron Teichman
Keyword(s):  
Economic Analysis ◽  
Bounded Rationality ◽  
Law And Economics ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Securities Regulation ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
Entire Body ◽  
Economic Analysis Of Law ◽  
Behavioral Law And Economics ◽  
The Impact

In the past few decades, economic analysis of law has been challenged by a growing body of experimental and empirical studies that attest to prevalent and systematic deviations from the assumptions of economic rationality. While the findings on bounded rationality and heuristics and biases were initially perceived as antithetical to standard economic and legal-economic analysis, over time they have been largely integrated into mainstream economic analysis, including economic analysis of law. Moreover, the impact of behavioral insights has long since transcended purely economic analysis of law: in recent years, the behavioral movement has become one of the most influential developments in legal scholarship in general. Behavioral Law and Economics offers a state-of-the-art overview of the field. The book surveys the entire body of psychological research underpinning behavioral analysis of law, and critically evaluates the core methodological questions of this area of research. The book then discusses the fundamental normative questions stemming from the psychological findings on bounded rationality, and explores their implications for establishing the aims of legislation, and the means of attaining them. This is followed by a systematic and critical examination of the contributions of behavioral studies to all major fields of law—property, contracts, consumer protection, torts, corporate, securities regulation, antitrust, administrative, constitutional, international, criminal, and evidence law—as well as to the behavior of key players in the legal arena: litigants and judicial decision-makers.

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