Abstract
How is movement of individuals coordinated as a group? This is a fundamental question of social behaviour, encompassing phenomena such as bird flocking, fish schooling, and the innumerable activities in human groups that require people to synchronise their actions. We have developed an experimental paradigm, the HoneyComb computer-based multi-client game, to empirically investigate human movement coordination and leadership. Using economic games as a model, we set monetary incentives to motivate players on a virtual playfield to reach goals via players' movements. We asked whether (I) humans coordinate their movements when information is limited to an individual group member's observation of adjacent group member motion, (II) whether an informed group minority can lead an uninformed group majority to the minority's goal, and if so, (III) how this minority exerts its influence. We showed that in a human group – on the basis of movement alone – a minority can successfully lead a majority. Minorities lead successfully when (a) their members choose similar initial steps towards their goal field and (b) they are among the first in the whole group to make a move. Using our approach, we empirically demonstrate that the rules of swarming behaviour apply to humans. Even complex human behaviour, such as leadership and directed group movement, follow simple rules that are based on visual perception of local movement.
Highlights
Schools of fish and flocks of birds move collectively towards a spatial goal [1,2] despite their large local group sizes and reduced capacity for global or inter-individual communication across the group [3,4]
Using a computer-based multiclient game that blocks explicit signals or other typical human information transfer, we offer a model of human group movement patterns applicable to group scenarios such as emergency, rescue, and sports where interindividual communication is hindered but the reading of movement is still possible
The goals of our study are to address three fundamental questions regarding basic human coordination mechanisms and the emergence of patterns of group leadership in the complete absence of communication mechanisms and pre-knowledge of information differentiation other than the perceived movement of others: (I) Can humans coordinate their avatars’ movement under such extremely restricted communication conditions? (IIa) Can the informed minority lead the uninformed majority to their goal field, (IIb) even with the additional restriction for each group member to perceive only local movement relative to his/her proximity? (III) Which movement behaviour of the minority is the best predictor for the success of leading the majority to a target?
Summary
Schools of fish and flocks of birds move collectively towards a spatial goal [1,2] despite their large local group sizes and reduced capacity for global or inter-individual communication across the group [3,4]. There is increasing evidence [9,16,17] that large swarms and small heterogeneous groups may be coordinated by local interaction rules To explain this ‘‘swarming’’ phenomenon in animals and humans, Couzin et al [18] created a model in which group locomotion emerges from individuals steering their motion based on the moves of local neighbours. In order to incorporate the influence of those individuals with information about a preferred goal, a weighted direction vector was added [18] to investigate the dilemma of informed individuals pursuing their preferred goal while trying to remain with the group [21] In their computer simulation model, Couzin et al [18] deduced that a proportionally small number of directionally informed individuals can channel the naıve (uninformed) members of the swarm to the target of the directionally informed. Assumptions about inherent personal distinctions (e.g. personality traits or social cues) need not to be present in order to explain effective movement leadership
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