Deciding group movements: where and when to go - PubMed

Review

Deciding group movements: where and when to go

Larissa Conradt et al. Behav Processes. 2010 Jul.

Abstract

A group of animals can only move cohesively, if group members "somehow" reach a consensus about the timing (e.g., start) and the spatial direction/destination of the collective movement. Timing and spatial decisions usually differ with respect to the continuity of their cost/benefit distribution in such a way that, in principle, compromises are much more feasible in timing decision (e.g., median preferred time) than they are in spatial decisions. The consequence is that consensus costs connected to collective timing decisions are usually less skewed amongst group members than are consensus costs connected to spatial decisions. This, in turn, influences the evolution of decision sharing: sharing in timing decisions is most likely to evolve when conflicts are high relative to group cohesion benefits, while sharing in spatial decisions is most likely to evolve in the opposite situation. We discuss the implications of these differences for the study of collective movement decisions.

Similar articles

• Group decision-making in fission-fusion societies.

  Kerth G. Kerth G. Behav Processes. 2010 Jul;84(3):662-3. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2010.02.023. Epub 2010 Mar 6. Behav Processes. 2010. PMID: 20211711 Review.

• Decision-making processes: the case of collective movements.

  Petit O, Bon R. Petit O, et al. Behav Processes. 2010 Jul;84(3):635-47. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2010.04.009. Epub 2010 May 8. Behav Processes. 2010. PMID: 20435103 Review.

• Shared or unshared consensus decision in macaques?

  Sueur C, Petit O. Sueur C, et al. Behav Processes. 2008 May;78(1):84-92. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2008.01.004. Epub 2008 Jan 16. Behav Processes. 2008. PMID: 18281161

• Conflicts of interest and the evolution of decision sharing.

  Conradt L, Roper TJ. Conradt L, et al. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2009 Mar 27;364(1518):807-19. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2008.0257. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2009. PMID: 19073479 Free PMC article.

• Dominance and affiliation mediate despotism in a social primate.

  King AJ, Douglas CM, Huchard E, Isaac NJ, Cowlishaw G. King AJ, et al. Curr Biol. 2008 Dec 9;18(23):1833-8. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2008.10.048. Epub 2008 Nov 20. Curr Biol. 2008. PMID: 19026539

Cited by

• Disentangling influence over group speed and direction reveals multiple patterns of influence in moving meerkat groups.

  Averly B, Sridhar VH, Demartsev V, Gall G, Manser M, Strandburg-Peshkin A. Averly B, et al. Sci Rep. 2022 Aug 16;12(1):13844. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-17259-z. Sci Rep. 2022. PMID: 35974046 Free PMC article.

• Adaptive leadership overcomes persistence-responsivity trade-off in flocking.

  Balázs B, Vásárhelyi G, Vicsek T. Balázs B, et al. J R Soc Interface. 2020 Jun;17(167):20190853. doi: 10.1098/rsif.2019.0853. Epub 2020 Jun 10. J R Soc Interface. 2020. PMID: 32517635 Free PMC article.

• Spatio-temporal processes drive fine-scale genetic structure in an otherwise panmictic seabird population.

  Garrett LJH, Myatt JP, Sadler JP, Dawson DA, Hipperson H, Colbourne JK, Dickey RC, Weber SB, Reynolds SJ. Garrett LJH, et al. Sci Rep. 2020 Nov 26;10(1):20725. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-77517-w. Sci Rep. 2020. PMID: 33244100 Free PMC article.

• Human group size puzzle: why it is odd that we live in large societies.

  David-Barrett T. David-Barrett T. R Soc Open Sci. 2023 Aug 16;10(8):230559. doi: 10.1098/rsos.230559. eCollection 2023 Aug. R Soc Open Sci. 2023. PMID: 37593705 Free PMC article.

• Group decision-making in chacma baboons: leadership, order and communication during movement.

  Sueur C. Sueur C. BMC Ecol. 2011 Oct 20;11:26. doi: 10.1186/1472-6785-11-26. BMC Ecol. 2011. PMID: 22014356 Free PMC article.

Publication types

MeSH terms