Thesis
Effects of social information on the accuracy of individual assessment of environmental state
Washington State University
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
05/2020
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000004086
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/125263
Abstract
Behavioral decision-making involves two steps: 1) the formation of an assessment about an environment or its resources, and 2) a behavioral rule that specifies how to act based on that assessment. During these processes, individuals may form their assessments by using information they acquire themselves through direct sampling of the environment or by monitoring the behavior of others (social information). However, most work on decision-making focuses on observable behaviors that are the outcome of both the assessment and decision rule. This approach does not allow for researchers to explore how individuals process information to assess the state of environmental resources, which can be difficult to do empirically. Therefore, we developed a mathematical model to understand how social information influences an individual's assessment of their environment. Overall, incorporating social information into private assessments of environmental states increased the accuracy under a variety of parameters. However, social information improved the accuracy of assessments most in highly variable environments compared to less variable ones. We also find that differences in how social information is processed influenced the magnitude by which individuals improve in accuracy.
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Details
- Title
- Effects of social information on the accuracy of individual assessment of environmental state
- Creators
- Jonathan Aguiñaga
- Contributors
- Richard Gomulkiewicz (Advisor) - Washington State University, School of Biological SciencesHEATHER E. WATTS (Advisor) - Washington State University, Center for Reproductive Biology
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- School of Biological Sciences
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Identifiers
- 99900890788001842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis