Collective foraging and social search in vast decision-making spaces

The aim of the project Collective foraging and social search in vast decision-making spaces is to understand the algorithmic bases and adaptive advantages of collective search behaviour in structured, risky environments. The project will incorporate formal mathematical models and agent-based simulations into developing an understanding of the relationship between learning and decision-making processes and concomitant collective behaviour. Additionally, the project will test theoretical predictions through large-scale online behavioural experiments while comparing human data with other animals. With Jingyu Xi, a doctoral candidate who recently joined the project, the team has started searching for conditions under which social networks and hierarchical structures affect the “collective behavioural rescue” effect. “We have obtained a promising preliminary result in the social generalization experiment,” says Wataru Toyokawa. “Although the project is still in its earliest stage, some of the preliminary results are promising and have already been presented at international conferences and meetings.”