Self-organisation (Hemelrijk)

11 important questions on Self-organisation (Hemelrijk)

What is true about the explanation of complexity at group level?

We commonly explain complexity by (cognitive) complexity of individuals, but in fact models of self-organisation show that it may arise from cognitively simple interactions among individuals with their physical environment

What is true about starling flocks?

  1. Starlings show local coordination with only 7 of their closest neighbours for coordination of motion
  2. Simple interaction (attraction, alignment and avoidance)
  3. Simplified flying behaviour
  4. Staying close to the sleeping site

What does self-organisation implie?

  • A pattern at a global level emerges from the interactions among the lower level units
  • lower level units behave according to local information and simple rules only
  • The emergent, complex pattern is more than the sum of the components
  • Emergent properties arise unexpectedly
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What complex phenomenon is shown in ant foraging?

  • The exploitation of food sources nearest to the nest: attribute the complexity to:
    • cognition of the individual: compare distances and quality
    • interaction with the environment: pheromonal marking and following

How do ants choose the shorter path to a food source?

Ants mark a path pheromonally when moving from the nest and towards it. They prefer at the crossing the path marked stronger

What is the spatial patterning of ants?

Initially, ants are distributed randomly. They build an invisible path through a chemical trail. The shortest route is reinforced the fastest.

What are the advantages of asymmetric exploitation in ants?

Ants follow a heavily marked path more easily, and they defend themselves better against other colonies or predators

How does spatial patterning in ants follow if there is a difference in food source quality?

When a food source has better quality, this will be marked stronger

What does the average dominance index describe?

The proportion of winning per individual averaged over its opponents

Describe despotic vs egalitarian dominance styles

  • Despotic: steep hierarchy, dominants have easier access to resources than subordinates (Java Macaque)
  • Egalitarian: weak hierarchy, group members have equal access to resources (Celebes Macaque)

Describe the spacial structure of dominance

Dominants are in the middle, and subordinates more on the outside. Spacial centrality of dominants is default. There is positive feedback between spatial structure and hierarchy

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