scholarly journals Ants show a leftward turning bias when exploring unknown nest sites

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 20140945 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edmund R. Hunt ◽  
Thomas O'Shea-Wheller ◽  
Gregory F. Albery ◽  
Tamsyn H. Bridger ◽  
Mike Gumn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Predation Risk ◽  
Temnothorax Albipennis ◽  
Present Evidence ◽  
Nest Sites ◽  
Migration Factors ◽  
Important Field ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Wall Following ◽  
Colony Level

Behavioural lateralization in invertebrates is an important field of study because it may provide insights into the early origins of lateralization seen in a diversity of organisms. Here, we present evidence for a leftward turning bias in Temnothorax albipennis ants exploring nest cavities and in branching mazes, where the bias is initially obscured by thigmotaxis (wall-following) behaviour. Forward travel with a consistent turning bias in either direction is an effective nest exploration method, and a simple decision-making heuristic to employ when faced with multiple directional choices. Replication of the same bias at the colony level would also reduce individual predation risk through aggregation effects, and may lead to a faster attainment of a quorum threshold for nest migration. We suggest the turning bias may be the result of an evolutionary interplay between vision, exploration and migration factors, promoted by the ants' eusociality.

scholarly journals Noise, cost and speed-accuracy trade-offs: decision-making in a decentralized system

2005 ◽  
Vol 3 (7) ◽  
pp. 243-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A.R Marshall ◽  
Anna Dornhaus ◽  
Nigel R Franks ◽  
Tim Kovacs
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Control Algorithm ◽  
Temnothorax Albipennis ◽  
Decentralized System ◽  
Nest Sites ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Decentralized Decision Making ◽  
Decision Making System ◽  
Speed Accuracy ◽  
Speed And Accuracy

Many natural and artificial decision-making systems face decision problems where there is an inherent compromise between two or more objectives. One such common compromise is between the speed and accuracy of a decision. The ability to exploit the characteristics of a decision problem in order to vary between the extremes of making maximally rapid, or maximally accurate decisions, is a useful property of such systems. Colonies of the ant Temnothorax albipennis (formerly Leptothorax albipennis ) are a paradigmatic decentralized decision-making system, and have been shown flexibly to compromise accuracy for speed when making decisions during house-hunting. During emigration, a colony must typically evaluate and choose between several possible alternative new nest sites of differing quality. In this paper, we examine this speed-accuracy trade-off through modelling, and conclude that noise and time-cost of assessing alternative choices are likely to be significant for T. albipennis . Noise and cost of such assessments are likely to mean that T. albipennis ' decision-making mechanism is Pareto-optimal in one crucial regard; increasing the willingness of individuals to change their decisions cannot improve collective accuracy overall without impairing speed. We propose that a decentralized control algorithm based on this emigration behaviour may be derived for applications in engineering domains and specify the characteristics of the problems to which it should be suited, based on our new results.

scholarly journals The Limits of Learning: Exploration, Generalization, and the Development of Learning Traps

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Rich ◽  
Todd Matthew Gureckis
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Computer Simulation ◽  
Adaptive Behavior ◽  
False Belief ◽  
Complex Environments ◽  
Extensive Experience ◽  
Present Evidence ◽  
Fundamental Limit ◽  
New Type ◽  
Series Of Experiments

Learning usually improves the accuracy of beliefs through the accumulation of experience. But are there limits to learning that prevent us from accurately understanding our world? In this paper we investigate the concept of a “learning trap”—the formation of a stable false belief even with extensive experience. Our review highlights how these traps develop though the interaction of learning and decision making in unknown environments. We further document a particularly pernicious learning trap driven by selective attention, a mechanism often assumed to facilitate learning in complex environments. Using computer simulation we demonstrate the key attributes of the agent and environment that lead to this new type of learning trap. Then, in a series of experiments we present evidence that people robustly fall into this trap, even in the presence of various interventions predicted to meliorate it. These results highlight a fundamental limit to learning and adaptive behavior that impacts individuals, organizations, animals, and machines.

Career Transitions and Change

2021 ◽  
pp. 264-277
Author(s):  
Roy David Samuel
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Career Transition ◽  
Career Pathways ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
Roller Coaster ◽  
The Past ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Change Event

Over the last decade, the athlete’s career transition literature has shifted from a deterministic (or linear) to a probabilistic (nonlinear) perspective. Athletes’ careers can be perceived as a roller coaster ride, shaped by transitions (i.e., normative, nonnormative, quasi-normative, dual career, cultural, crisis), a change-event, appraisals, decision-making, coping, and environmental influences. Athletes can enjoy a fruitful and meaningful career as long as they positively adapt to the various transitional periods and changes encountered, potentially creating multiple career pathways. Furthermore, research has expanded to additional sport performers, including coaches and referees. Finally, the lives of sport performers have tremendously changed in the past decade as a result of the globalization process, social media, and migration, requiring career researchers to modify existing conceptualizations. This chapter, therefore, provides a critical examination of the recent developments in the career transition and change literature, mainly focusing on critical questions to be asked and a prospective view of this field.

scholarly journals Rational time investment during collective decision making in Temnothorax ants

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (10) ◽  
pp. 20190542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takao Sasaki ◽  
Benjamin Stott ◽  
Stephen C. Pratt
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Collective Decision ◽  
Collective Decision Making ◽  
Ant Colonies ◽  
Temnothorax Albipennis ◽  
Time Investment ◽  
Decision Outcomes ◽  
Nest Site Choice ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms

The study of rational choice in humans and other animals typically focuses on decision outcomes, but rationality also applies to decision latencies, especially when time is scarce and valuable. For example, the smaller the difference in quality between two options, the faster a rational actor should decide between them. This is because the consequences of choosing the inferior option are less severe if the options are similar. Experiments have shown, however, that humans irrationally spend more time choosing between similar options. In this study, we assessed the rationality of time investment during nest-site choice by the rock ant, Temnothorax albipennis . Previous studies have shown that collective decision-making allows ant colonies to avoid certain irrational errors. Here we show that the same is true for time investment. Individual ants, like humans, irrationally took more time to complete an emigration when choosing between two similar nests than when choosing between two less similar nests. Whole colonies, by contrast, rationally made faster decisions when the options were more similar. We discuss the underlying mechanisms of decision-making in individuals and colonies and how they lead to irrational and rational time investment, respectively.

Under pressure: predation risk defining mating investment in matured spider mite Tetranychus urticae

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 1359-1372
Author(s):  
Matheus S. Rocha ◽  
Lívia A. Celada ◽  
Everton N. L. Rodrigues ◽  
Luiz E. Costa-schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Predation Risk ◽  
Tetranychus Urticae ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Spider Mite ◽  
Reproductive Effort ◽  
Spider Mites ◽  
Investment Behavior ◽  
Two Spotted Spider Mite ◽  
Mating Performance

The emergence of anti-predatory strategies for prey survival are ruled by the minimization of the encounters/interactions with potential predators, but at the same time by maximizing the access to limiting resources such as food or mating partners. Cues indicating predatory activity influence decision-making activities in the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae, such as dispersion, foraging activities, and reproductive effort.  However, anti-predatory strategies studied in spider mites generally considers mainly the female perspective (e.g. oviposition), leaving a gap in how T. urticae couples deal with predatory risk. Here, through laboratory experiments, we observed that matured spider mite couples were only affected by predation risk during the pre-copulatory stages of the mating process, especially when deciding to proceed in a mating opportunity. The mating performance of individuals was independent of their exposure to predation risk, suggesting that couples would adopt full investment behavior after opting to proceed in a mating attempt. Though our working hypothesis predicted predation risk interference throughout the entire mating process, we conclude that decision-making activities by spider mite during pre-copulatory stages act independently from copulatory stages associated to insemination.

scholarly journals The claustrum: Considerations regarding its anatomy, functions and a programme for research

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 239821281771896 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher M. Dillingham ◽  
Maciej M. Jankowski ◽  
Ruchi Chandra ◽  
Bethany E. Frost ◽  
Shane M. O’Mara
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Information Processing ◽  
Brain Region ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Mammalian Brain ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Subcortical Structures ◽  
Present Evidence ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
Extensive Range

The claustrum is a highly conserved but enigmatic structure, with connections to the entire cortical mantle, as well as to an extended and extensive range of heterogeneous subcortical structures. Indeed, the human claustrum is thought to have the highest number of connections per millimetre cubed of any other brain region. While there have been relatively few functional investigations of the claustrum, many theoretical suggestions have been put forward, including speculation that it plays a key role in the generation of consciousness in the mammalian brain. Other claims have been more circumspect, suggesting that the claustrum has a particular role in, for example, orchestrating cortical activity, spatial information processing or decision making. Here, we selectively review certain key recent anatomical, electrophysiological and behavioural experimental advances in claustral research and present evidence that calls for a reassessment of its anatomical boundaries in the rodent. We conclude with some open questions for future research.

scholarly journals Reconnaissance and latent learning in ants

2007 ◽  
Vol 274 (1617) ◽  
pp. 1505-1509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nigel R Franks ◽  
James W Hooper ◽  
Anna Dornhaus ◽  
Philippa J Aukett ◽  
Alexander L Hayward ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Latent Learning ◽  
Significant Preference ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Temnothorax Albipennis ◽  
Nest Sites ◽  
Strategic Value ◽  
The Future ◽  
First Time

We show that ants can reconnoitre their surroundings and in effect plan for the future. Temnothorax albipennis colonies use a sophisticated strategy to select a new nest when the need arises. Initially, we presented colonies with a new nest of lower quality than their current one that they could explore for one week without a need to emigrate. We then introduced a second identical low quality new nest and destroyed their old nest so that they had to emigrate. Colonies showed a highly significant preference for the (low quality) novel new nest over the identical but familiar one. In otherwise identical experiments, colonies showed no such discrimination when the choice was between a familiar and an unfamiliar high-quality nest. When, however, either all possible pheromone marks were removed, or landmarks were re-orientated, just before the emigration, the ants chose between identical low-quality new nests at random. These results demonstrate for the first time that ants are capable of assessing and retaining information about the quality of potential new nest sites, probably by using both pheromones and landmark cues, even though this information may only be of strategic value to the colony in the future. They seem capable, therefore, of latent learning and, more explicitly, learning what not to do.

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