 |
|
Ants more rational than humans
July 27, 2009In a study released online on July 22 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences, researchers at Arizona State University and Princeton University show that ants can accomplish a task more rationally than our - multimodal, egg-headed, tool-using, bipedal, opposing-thumbed - selves.
This is not the case of humans being "stupider" than ants. Humans and animals simply often make irrational choices when faced with very challenging decisions, note the study's architects Stephen Pratt and Susan Edwards.
"This paradoxical outcome is based on apparent constraint: most individual ants know of only a single option, and the colony's collective choice self-organizes from interactions among many poorly-informed ants," says Pratt, an assistant professor in the School of Life Sciences in ASU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
The authors' insights arose from an examination of the process of nest selection in the ant, Temnothorax curvispinosus. These ant colonies live in small cavities, as small as an acorn, and are skillful in finding new places to roost. The challenge before the colony was to "choose" a nest, when offered two options with very similar advantages.
What the authors found is that in collective decision-making in ants, the lack of individual options translated into more accurate outcomes by minimizing the chances for individuals to make mistakes. A "wisdom of crowds" approach emerges, Pratt believes.
"Rationality in this case should be thought of as meaning that a decision-maker, who is trying to maximize something, should simply be consistent in its preferences." Pratt says. "For animals trying to maximize their fitness, for example, they should always rank options, whether these are food sources, mates, or nest sites, according to their fitness contribution."
"Which means that it would be irrational to prefer choice 'A' to 'B' on Tuesday and then to prefer 'B' to 'A' on Wednesday, if the fitness returns of the two options have not changed."
"Typically we think having many individual options, strategies and approaches are beneficial," Pratt adds, "but irrational errors are more likely to arise when individuals make direct comparisons among options."
Studies of how or why irrationality arises can give insight into cognitive mechanisms and constraints, as well as how collective decision making occurs. Insights such as Pratt's and Edward's could also translate into new approaches in the development of artificial intelligence.
"A key idea in collective robotics is that the individual robots can be relatively simple and unsophisticated, but you can still get a complex, intelligent result out of the whole group," says Pratt. "The ability to function without complex central control is really desirable in an artificial system and the idea that limitations at the individual level can actually help at the group level is potentially very useful." Pratt is a member of Heterogeneous Unmanned Networked Team (HUNT), a project funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) to enable to development of bio-inspired solutions to engineering problems.
What do these findings potentially say about understanding human social systems?
"It is hard to say. But it's at least worth entertaining the possibility that some strategic limitation on individual knowledge could improve the performance of a large and complex group that is trying to accomplish something collectively," Pratt says.
Arizona State University
The authors' insights arose from an examination of the process of nest selection in the ant, Temnothorax curvispinosus. These ant colonies live in small cavities, as small as an acorn, and are skillful in finding new places to roost. The challenge before the colony was to "choose" a nest, when offered two options with very similar advantages.
What the authors found is that in collective decision-making in ants, the lack of individual options translated into more accurate outcomes by minimizing the chances for individuals to make mistakes. A "wisdom of crowds" approach emerges, Pratt believes.
"Rationality in this case should be thought of as meaning that a decision-maker, who is trying to maximize something, should simply be consistent in its preferences." Pratt says. "For animals trying to maximize their fitness, for example, they should always rank options, whether these are food sources, mates, or nest sites, according to their fitness contribution."
"Which means that it would be irrational to prefer choice 'A' to 'B' on Tuesday and then to prefer 'B' to 'A' on Wednesday, if the fitness returns of the two options have not changed."
"Typically we think having many individual options, strategies and approaches are beneficial," Pratt adds, "but irrational errors are more likely to arise when individuals make direct comparisons among options."
Studies of how or why irrationality arises can give insight into cognitive mechanisms and constraints, as well as how collective decision making occurs. Insights such as Pratt's and Edward's could also translate into new approaches in the development of artificial intelligence.
"A key idea in collective robotics is that the individual robots can be relatively simple and unsophisticated, but you can still get a complex, intelligent result out of the whole group," says Pratt. "The ability to function without complex central control is really desirable in an artificial system and the idea that limitations at the individual level can actually help at the group level is potentially very useful." Pratt is a member of Heterogeneous Unmanned Networked Team (HUNT), a project funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) to enable to development of bio-inspired solutions to engineering problems.
What do these findings potentially say about understanding human social systems?
"It is hard to say. But it's at least worth entertaining the possibility that some strategic limitation on individual knowledge could improve the performance of a large and complex group that is trying to accomplish something collectively," Pratt says.
Arizona State University
Ants Current Events and Ants News RSSA new computer simulator allows to design military strategies based on ants' movements
A researcher of the University of Granada has designed a new system for the mobility of military troops within a battlefield based on the mechanisms used by ant colonies to move using a commercial videogame.
Ants are friendly to some trees, but not others
Tree-dwelling ants generally live in harmony with their arboreal hosts. But new research suggests that when they run out of space in their trees of choice, the ants can get destructive to neighboring trees.
Orphan army ants join nearby colonies
Colonies of army ants, whose long columns and marauding habits are the stuff of natural-history legend, are usually antagonistic to each other, attacking soldiers from rival colonies in border disputes that keep the colonies separate.
When ants attack: Researchers recreate chemicals that trigger aggression in Argentine ants
Experiments led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have demonstrated that normally friendly ants can turn against each other by exploiting the chemical cues they use to distinguish colony-mates from rivals.
First 'mainly vegetarian' spider described
The 40,000 or so spiders that have been described are generally known as strict predators, trapping their prey in elaborate webs or hunting them down directly.
Herbivory discovered in a spider
There are approximately 40,000 species of spiders in the world, all of which have been thought to be strict predators that feed on insects or other animals. Now, scientists have found that a small Central American jumping spider has a uniquely different diet: the species Bagheera kiplingi feeds predominantly on plant food.
Climate change triggered dwarfism in soil-dwelling creatures of the past
Ancient soil-inhabiting creatures decreased in body size by nearly half in response to a period of boosted carbon dioxide levels and higher temperatures, scientists have discovered.
Homebound termites answer 150-year-old evolution question
Staying at home may have given the very first termite youngsters the best opportunity to rule the colony when their parents were killed by their neighbors.
Ants vs. worms: Computer security mimics nature
In the never-ending battle to protect computer networks from intruders, security experts are deploying a new defense modeled after one of nature's hardiest creatures - the ant.
Biologists discover 'death stench' is a universal ancient warning signal
The smell of recent death or injury that repels living relatives of insects has been identified as a truly ancient signal that functions to avoid disease or predators, biologists have discovered.
More Ants Current Events and Ants News Articles
 |
The Life and Times of the Ant by Charles Micucci (Author) Not mighty in size, but mighty in resourcefulness and industry, the ant has crawled the earth since prehistoric times. It has dwelt in rainforest tree trunks and acorns of oak trees, beneath logs, and under sidewalks. It has protected forests by capturing insects, cleared weeds away from acacia trees, and by growing gardens has released important nutrients into the soil. Seed lifters, dirt diggers, social beings, ants have the most advanced brain of all insects! So watch where you step, especially on a warm day: a small but mighty ant may be underfoot. |
 |
Fascinations Antworks Illuminated by Fascinations The Antworks Habitat and the Antworks Illuminator are all in one box. It includes a removable LED Illuminator with power adaptor, nutrient gel, magnifying glass, extreme zoom lens, ant catching/tunnel starting tool, and instruction booklet with interesting facts about ants. The ants not included, order form enclosed on back page of booklet. Item dimensions: 6.5 x 6 x 1.25 . |
 |
Antz Starring: Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Sylvester Stallone, Dan Aykroyd Directed By: Eric Darnell, Tim Johnson Also With: Aron Warner (Producer), Brad Lewis (Producer), Carl Rosendahl (Producer), Chris Weitz (Writer), Paul Weitz (Writer), Todd Alcott (Writer) LIFE IS NOT A PICNIC FOR Z, A SMALL WORKER ANT WITH VERY BIG IDEAS. WHEN Z FALLS FOR THE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS BALA, HIS ODDS OF WINNING HER OVER ARE ONE IN A BILLION. TO GET NOTICED, HE SWITCHES PLACES WITH SOLDIER ANT WEAVER. |
 |
Journey to the Ants: A Story of Scientific Exploration by Bert Hölldobler (Author), Edward O. Wilson (Author) A prize-winning behavioral scientist and the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Diversity of Life interweave their personal adventures with the social lives of ants, building, from the first minute observations of childhood, a remarkable account of these abundant insects' evolutionary achievement. 173 illustrations, 95 in color. |
 |
Fascinations Antworks by Fascinations Fascinations Antworks is the first and only ant habitat to be tested in zero gravity. It provides a total ecosystem for ants and uses a non-toxic blue gel which makes it easy to watch the ants digging their network of tunnels. It includes container, ant catcher, magnifier and activity guide. |
 |
The Lives of Ants by Laurent Keller (Author), Elisabeth Gordon (Author) Since time immemorial, human beings have been fascinated by ants, amazed by them, intrigued and captivated by them. With numerous black-and-white images and eight pages of color plates, The Lives of Ants provides a state-of-the-art look at what we now know about these fascinating creatures, portraying a world that is rich and full of surprises, one which, even after decades of observation, is still full of unsolved mysteries. The authors illuminate the world of the ant, shedding light on such topics as the ant's impressive abilities in direction finding and quite amazing ingenuity when it comes to building their nests, finding supplies, or exploiting other members of the animal kingdom. They show, too, that they are capable of aggression and violence, which can disturb the... |
 |
NOVA: Ants - Little Creatures Who Run the World Starring: Edward O. Wilson Directed By: Nick Upton From vast underground caverns, working class armies pour forth to defend their highly structured communal way of life. Feudal societies in the Middle Ages? No, ants. NOVA looks at the most successful life forms on the face of the planet in Little Creatures Who Run the World, hosted by Harvard University's internationally renowned ant authority, naturalist Edward O. Wilson. What's impressive about ants is how they practice what we preach: family values. All ants belong to extended families and carry their prey home to share. Unselfishness is the rule. Everything they do is for their colony's good. For them, socialism works. |
 |
The Ants by Bert Holldobler (Author), Edward O. Wilson (Author) From the Arctic to South Africa - one finds them everywhere: Ants. Making up nearly 15% of the entire terrestrial animal biomass, ants are impressive not only in quantitative terms, they also fascinate by their highly organized and complex social system. Their caste system, the division of labor, the origin of altruistic behavior and the complex forms of chemical communication makes them the most interesting group of social organisms and the main subject for sociobiologists. Not least is their ecological importance: Ants are the premier soil turners, channelers of energy and dominatrices of the insect fauna. |
 |
AntWorks Tunnel Vision by Fascinations A captivating "as long as you want to make it" version of Antworks! Unique AntDocks are located in upper & lower portions of Antworks Tunnel Vision, allowing you to connect another Tunnel Vision unit! Here you'll have the capacity to grow your Antfarm to super lengths, adding another Antworks Tunnel Vision piece whenever you anticipate your ants (and you!) are ready for a wider view! Get a clear, extended 3-D view. Watch ants explore, discover & develop new territory, and interact as they incorporating new sections of Tunnel Vision tunneling gel. Enable your ants to create a complex transportation system that is very impressive! Just pop the TunnelVision tubes in the AntDocks on Tunnel Vision ports and your six-legged friends are ready to start expanding their ant-empire!... |
 |
Ants Starring: Suzanne Somers, Robert Foxworth, Myrna Loy, Lynda Day George, Gerald Gordon (II) Directed By: Robert Scheerer |
| © 2009 BrightSurf.com |