Task dynamics define the contextual emergence of human corralling behaviors

Social animals have the remarkable ability to organize into collectives to achieve goals unobtainable to individual members. Equally striking is the observation that despite differences in perceptual-motor capabilities, different animals often exhibit qualitatively similar collective states of organization and coordination. Such qualitative similarities can be seen in corralling behaviors involving the encirclement of prey that are observed, for example, during collaborative hunting amongst several apex predator species living in disparate environments. Similar encirclement behaviors are also displayed by human participants in a collaborative problem-solving task involving the herding and containment of evasive artificial agents. Inspired by the functional similarities in this behavior across humans and non-human systems, this paper investigated whether the containment strategies displayed by humans emerge as a function of the task’s underlying dynamics, which shape patterns of goal-directed corralling more generally. This hypothesis was tested by comparing the strategies naïve human dyads adopt during the containment of a set of evasive artificial agents across two disparate task contexts. Despite the different movement types (manual manipulation or locomotion) required in the different task contexts, the behaviors that humans display can be predicted as emergent properties of the same underlying task-dynamic model.

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Chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ) coordinate by communicating in a collaborative problem-solving task

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2019.0408 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 286 (1901) ◽

pp. 20190408 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Alicia P. Melis ◽

Michael Tomasello

Keyword(s):

Problem Solving ◽

Pan Troglodytes ◽

Cognitive Skills ◽

Collaborative Problem Solving ◽

Collaborative Problem ◽

Pointing Gestures ◽

Communicative Strategy ◽

Collaborative Activities ◽

Successful Collaboration ◽

Problem Solving Task

Successful collaboration often relies on individuals' capacity to communicate with each other. Despite extensive research on chimpanzee communication, there is little evidence that chimpanzees are capable, without extensive human training, of regulating collaborative activities via communication. This study investigated whether pairs of chimpanzees were capable of communicating to ensure coordination during collaborative problem-solving. The chimpanzee pairs needed two tools to extract fruits from an apparatus. The communicator in each pair could see the location of the tools (hidden in one of two boxes), whereas only the recipient could open the boxes. The subjects were first successfully tested for their capacity to understand the pointing gestures of a human who indicated the location of the tools. In a subsequent conspecifics test, the communicator increasingly communicated the tools’ location, by approaching the baited box and giving the key needed to open it to the recipients. The recipient used these signals and obtained the tools, transferring one of the tools to the communicator so that the pair could collaborate in obtaining the fruits. The study suggests that chimpanzees have the necessary socio-cognitive skills to naturally develop a simple communicative strategy to ensure coordination in a collaborative task.

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The role of context in a collaborative problem-solving task during professional development

Technology Pedagogy and Education ◽

10.1080/1475939x.2015.1062412 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 25 (3) ◽

pp. 395-412 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Giuseppe Ritella ◽

Maria Beatrice Ligorio ◽

Kai Hakkarainen

Keyword(s):

Professional Development ◽

Problem Solving ◽

Collaborative Problem Solving ◽

Collaborative Problem ◽

Problem Solving Task

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Sharing the same languages helps us work better together

Palgrave Communications ◽

10.1057/s41599-019-0365-z ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

Author(s):

W. Quin Yow ◽

Tony Zhao Ming Lim

Keyword(s):

Problem Solving ◽

Language Proficiency ◽

Divergent Thinking ◽

Critical Role ◽

Collaborative Problem Solving ◽

Pair Type ◽

Insight Problem ◽

Collaborative Problem ◽

Insight Problem Solving ◽

Problem Solving Task

AbstractCollaborative problem-solving, the mutual engagement of people in a coordinated effort to solve a problem together, plays a critical role in the increasingly complex, linguistically diverse, and interconnected world. In particular, being able to communicate in the same languages provides a critical platform for facilitating problem solving among members of a multilingual team. Little research has explored whether sharing the same spoken languages would boost collaborative problem-solving over and beyond the effects of possible confounding variables such as language proficiency, personality, ethnicity, nationality, and non-verbal intelligence. This study manipulated the sharing of same languages by pairing 118 English-speaking bilingual participants either with someone who shares the same two spoken languages as themselves (English-same pair) or with someone who differs in one language (English-different pair). We explored whether such sharing of the same languages enhances collaborative problem-solving in multilingual pairs. Participants completed the Raven’s Matrices individually, as well as an insight problem-solving task (Triangle of Coins task) and a divergent thinking task (Mind-mapping) in pairs. English-same pairs performed better than English-different pairs in the insight problem-solving task but not in the divergent thinking task. English-different pairs collaborated (mean number of turns per minute) and communicated (mean number of utterances) more than English-same pairs in the divergent thinking task, although the effect of pair type on communication was fully mediated by a difference in ethnicity within pairs. More collaboration could have been needed between English-different pairs in the divergent thinking task to achieve comparable performance as English-same pairs, possibly due to the different communication processes experienced by English-different pairs. This study provides insights to the role of sharing spoken languages in enhancing collaborative problem-solving in small multilingual groups.

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