| Performance of human groups in social foraging: the role of communication in consensus decision making. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 20980294 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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Early hominids searched for dispersed food sources in a patchy, uncertain environment, and modern humans encounter equivalent spatial-temporal coordination problems on a daily basis. A fundamental, but untested assumption is that our evolved capacity for communication is integral to our success in such tasks, allowing information exchange and consensus decisions based on mutual consideration of pooled information. Here we examine whether communication enhances group performance in humans, and test the prediction that consensus decision-making underlies group success. We used bespoke radio-tagging methodology to monitor the incremental performance of communicating and non-communicating human groups (small group sizes of two to seven individuals), during a social foraging experiment. We found that communicating groups (n = 22) foraged more effectively than non-communicating groups (n = 21) and were able to reach consensus decisions (an 'agreement' on the most profitable foraging resource) significantly more often than non-communicating groups. Our data additionally suggest that gesticulations among group members played a vital role in the achievement of consensus decisions, and therefore highlight the importance of non-verbal signalling of intentions and desires for successful human cooperative behaviour. |
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Authors:
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Andrew J King; Claire Narraway; Lindsay Hodgson; Aidan Weatherill; Volker Sommer; Seirian Sumner |
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Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Date: 2010-10-27 |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Biology letters Volume: 7 ISSN: 1744-957X ISO Abbreviation: Biol. Lett. Publication Date: 2011 Apr |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2011-03-14 Completed Date: 2011-06-29 Revised Date: 2012-04-23 |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 101247722 Medline TA: Biol Lett Country: England |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 237-40 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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Royal Veterinary College, University of London, , Hertfordshire AL9 7DY, UK. ajking@rvc.ac.uk |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Communication* Cooperative Behavior* Decision Making* Female Humans Male Nonverbal Communication |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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