Revealing the hidden networks of interaction in mobile animal groups allows prediction of complex behavioral contagion
Abstract
We know little about the nature of the evolved interaction networks that give rise to the rapid coordinated collective response exhibited by many group-living organisms. Here, we study collective evasion in schooling fish using computational techniques to reconstruct the scene from the perspective of the organisms themselves. This method allows us to establish how the complex social scene is translated into behavioral response at the level of individuals and to visualize, and analyze, the resulting complex communication network as behavioral change spreads rapidly through groups. Thus, we can map, for any moment in time, the extent to which each individual is socially influential during collective evasion and predict the magnitude of such behavioral epidemics before they actually occur.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Mar 30, 2015
- Source ID
- 10.1073/pnas.1420068112
Entities
People
- Andrew T Hartnett
- Colin R Twomey
- Hai Shan Wu
- Iain Couzin
- Sara Brin Rosenthal
Organizations
- Army Research Office
- Human Frontier Science Program
- Max Planck Institute for Ornithology
- National Science Foundation
- Office of Naval Research
- Princeton University
- University of Konstanz