Foraging nine-spined sticklebacks prefer to rely on public information over simpler social cues
Foraging nine-spined sticklebacks prefer to rely on public information over simpler social cues
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DOI：
10.1093/beheco/ari064
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发表时间：
2005-09-01
影响因子：
2.4
通讯作者：
Laland, KN
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Coolen, I;Ward, AJW;Laland, KN
群居动物可以观察其他动物的行为，并在此过程中获得关于给定资源的不同质量的信息。理论模型预测，当个人只能观察他人的决定（这里是“社会线索”）而不是这些决定所基于的线索（这里是“公共信息”）时，盲目模仿他人的行为更有可能。我们调查的信息使用九刺刺鱼（Pungitius pungitius）在两个补丁觅食的情况下。社会线索提供了示威者鱼在每个补丁（2对6），这要么与示威者观察到的喂养率在每个补丁（公共信息）冲突的数量或唯一可用的信息。与预测一致，观察员更喜欢补丁先前与六个示威者时，社会线索是唯一可用的信息来源，但更喜欢补丁先前与两个示威者（“丰富”补丁）时，也提供了公共信息。在这些实验的基础上，我们认为，这是因为这些鱼优先根据公共信息，而不是社会线索，他们可以潜在地避免从事错误的信息级联的决定。因此，公共信息的可用性可以帮助社会动物做出适应性决策。
Social animals can observe others' behavior and in the process acquire information of varying quality about a given resource. Theoretical models predict that blind copying of others' behavior is more likely when individuals are only able to observe the decisions (here "social cues") of others rather than the cues (here "public information") on which such decisions are based. We investigated information use by nine-spined sticklebacks (Pungitius pungitius) in a two-patch foraging context. Social cues were provided by the number of demonstrator fish present at each patch (two versus six), which either conflicted with the demonstrators' observed feeding rate at each patch (public information) or was the only information available. Consistent with predictions, observers preferred the patch previously associated with six demonstrators when social cues were the only available source of information but preferred the patch previously associated with two demonstrators ("rich" patch) when also provided with public information. On the bases of these experiments, we argue that it is because these fish preferentially base decisions on public information rather than social cues that they can potentially avoid engaging in erroneous informational cascades. Thus, the availability of public information can help social animals make adaptive decisions.