Department of Computer Science, and Sheffield Robotics, University of Sheffield, Regent Court, 211 Portobello, Sheffield S1 4DP, UK.
School of Computer Science, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
Trends Ecol Evol. 2017 Sep;32(9):636-645. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2017.06.004. Epub 2017 Jul 21.
Group-living species frequently pool individual information so as to reach consensus decisions such as when and where to move, or whether a predator is present. Such opinion-pooling has been demonstrated empirically, and theoretical models have been proposed to explain why group decisions are more reliable than individual decisions. Behavioural ecology theory frequently assumes that all individuals have equal decision-making abilities, but decision theory relaxes this assumption and has been tested in human groups. We summarise relevant theory and argue for its applicability to collective animal decisions. We consider selective pressure on confidence-weighting in groups of related and unrelated individuals. We also consider which species and behaviours may provide evidence of confidence-weighting, paying particular attention to the sophisticated vocal communication of cooperative breeders.
群居物种经常汇集个体信息，以便就何时何地移动或是否存在捕食者等问题达成共识。这种意见汇集已经得到了实证证明，并且已经提出了理论模型来解释为什么群体决策比个体决策更可靠。行为生态学理论通常假设所有个体都具有同等的决策能力，但决策理论放宽了这一假设，并在人类群体中进行了测试。我们总结了相关理论，并认为其适用于集体动物决策。我们考虑了在有亲缘关系和无亲缘关系的个体群体中对置信权重施加选择压力的问题。我们还考虑了哪些物种和行为可能提供置信权重的证据，特别注意合作繁殖者复杂的声音交流。
