Decision-making in pigeon flocks: A democratic view of leadership
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2012 |
Outros Autores: | |
Tipo de documento: | Artigo |
Idioma: | eng |
Título da fonte: | Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
Texto Completo: | http://hdl.handle.net/10400.12/2369 |
Resumo: | When travelling in groups, animals frequently have to make decisions on the direction of travel. These decisions can be based on consensus, when all individuals take part in the decision (i.e. democratic decision; social information), or leadership, when one member or a minority of members make the decision (i.e. despotic decision; personal information). Here we investigated whether decision-making on the navigation of small flocks is based on democratic or despotic decisions. Using individual and flock releases as the experimental approach, we compared the homing performances of homing pigeons that fly singly and in groups of three. Our findings show that although small groups were either governed (i.e. when individuals in the flock had age differences) or not (i.e. when individuals in the flock had the same age) by leaders, with concern to decision-making they were all ruled by democratic decisions. Moreover, the individual homing performances were not associated with leadership. Because true leaders did not assume right away the front position in the flock, we suggest that as in human groups, starting from a central position is more effective as it allows leaders to not only transmit their own information but also to average the tendencies of the other group members. Together, the results highlight the importance of democratic decisions in group decision-making. |
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Decision-making in pigeon flocks: A democratic view of leadershipDespotic decisionDemocratic decisionLeadershipSocial informationPersonal informationHoming pigeonWhen travelling in groups, animals frequently have to make decisions on the direction of travel. These decisions can be based on consensus, when all individuals take part in the decision (i.e. democratic decision; social information), or leadership, when one member or a minority of members make the decision (i.e. despotic decision; personal information). Here we investigated whether decision-making on the navigation of small flocks is based on democratic or despotic decisions. Using individual and flock releases as the experimental approach, we compared the homing performances of homing pigeons that fly singly and in groups of three. Our findings show that although small groups were either governed (i.e. when individuals in the flock had age differences) or not (i.e. when individuals in the flock had the same age) by leaders, with concern to decision-making they were all ruled by democratic decisions. Moreover, the individual homing performances were not associated with leadership. Because true leaders did not assume right away the front position in the flock, we suggest that as in human groups, starting from a central position is more effective as it allows leaders to not only transmit their own information but also to average the tendencies of the other group members. Together, the results highlight the importance of democratic decisions in group decision-making.Company of Biologists LtdRepositório do ISPAJorge, PauloMarques, Paulo A. M.2013-09-21T10:19:08Z2012-01-01T00:00:00Z2012-01-01T00:00:00Zinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.12/2369engJournal of Experimental Biology, 215, 2414-24170022-0949info:eu-repo/semantics/embargoedAccessreponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAP2022-09-05T16:38:17Zoai:repositorio.ispa.pt:10400.12/2369Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-19T15:20:21.417582Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Decision-making in pigeon flocks: A democratic view of leadership |
title |
Decision-making in pigeon flocks: A democratic view of leadership |
spellingShingle |
Decision-making in pigeon flocks: A democratic view of leadership Jorge, Paulo Despotic decision Democratic decision Leadership Social information Personal information Homing pigeon |
title_short |
Decision-making in pigeon flocks: A democratic view of leadership |
title_full |
Decision-making in pigeon flocks: A democratic view of leadership |
title_fullStr |
Decision-making in pigeon flocks: A democratic view of leadership |
title_full_unstemmed |
Decision-making in pigeon flocks: A democratic view of leadership |
title_sort |
Decision-making in pigeon flocks: A democratic view of leadership |
author |
Jorge, Paulo |
author_facet |
Jorge, Paulo Marques, Paulo A. M. |
author_role |
author |
author2 |
Marques, Paulo A. M. |
author2_role |
author |
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv |
Repositório do ISPA |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Jorge, Paulo Marques, Paulo A. M. |
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv |
Despotic decision Democratic decision Leadership Social information Personal information Homing pigeon |
topic |
Despotic decision Democratic decision Leadership Social information Personal information Homing pigeon |
description |
When travelling in groups, animals frequently have to make decisions on the direction of travel. These decisions can be based on consensus, when all individuals take part in the decision (i.e. democratic decision; social information), or leadership, when one member or a minority of members make the decision (i.e. despotic decision; personal information). Here we investigated whether decision-making on the navigation of small flocks is based on democratic or despotic decisions. Using individual and flock releases as the experimental approach, we compared the homing performances of homing pigeons that fly singly and in groups of three. Our findings show that although small groups were either governed (i.e. when individuals in the flock had age differences) or not (i.e. when individuals in the flock had the same age) by leaders, with concern to decision-making they were all ruled by democratic decisions. Moreover, the individual homing performances were not associated with leadership. Because true leaders did not assume right away the front position in the flock, we suggest that as in human groups, starting from a central position is more effective as it allows leaders to not only transmit their own information but also to average the tendencies of the other group members. Together, the results highlight the importance of democratic decisions in group decision-making. |
publishDate |
2012 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2012-01-01T00:00:00Z 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z 2013-09-21T10:19:08Z |
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
format |
article |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv |
http://hdl.handle.net/10400.12/2369 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10400.12/2369 |
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
Journal of Experimental Biology, 215, 2414-2417 0022-0949 |
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/embargoedAccess |
eu_rights_str_mv |
embargoedAccess |
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv |
application/pdf |
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Company of Biologists Ltd |
publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Company of Biologists Ltd |
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv |
reponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação instacron:RCAAP |
instname_str |
Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
instacron_str |
RCAAP |
institution |
RCAAP |
reponame_str |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
collection |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
repository.name.fl_str_mv |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
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1799130064597549056 |