IN THE same vein, there are many other examples of rational behaviour among the animal kingdom.
Ants: When it comes to decision-making in groups, these tiny creatures turn out to be more rational than humans, according to a study by Arizona State University and Princeton University. The study found that humans and animals simply often make irrational choices when faced with very challenging decisions.
The researchers chose a nest of the Temnothorax curvispinosus ants. These ant colonies live in small cavities, as small as an acorn, and are skilful in finding new places to roost. The challenge before the colony was to “choose” a nest, when offered two options with very similar advantages.
Rationality in this case should be thought of as meaning that a decision-maker, who is trying to maximise something, should simply be consistent in its preferences. For animals trying to maximise their fitness, for example, they should always rank options, whether these are food sources, mates, or nest sites, according to their fitness contribution. This 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.
Bird Families: A recent study drew unique parallels between human and bird families, particularly the Western bluebird. It found that the accumulation of wealth brings family stability, especially for this breed of birds. The female fledglings fly off on their own in late summer, but their brothers hang around through the winter and into the next breeding season, living off the bounty of their parents' larder. When the “wealth” (in terms of mistletoe berries, a winter food) runs low, the kids split.
According to this experimental research, such a precept of close-knit families is common among birds of the given breed as well as humans, subject of course to the assumption that there occurs a continuous accumulation of wealth. This parallel is based on the fact that animals, including humans, can stay in one place to accumulate resources and also because of the benefits of access to accrued resources.
Cockroaches: In a recent study, undertaken by the Université Libre de Bruxelles of Belgium, it was reported that cockroaches have a much better concept of living as a strong household, with the motto of ‘one for all and all for one, indicating the precept of ‘family decision’, as motivated by ‘Pareto Optimality’. In this study, a group of 50 cockroaches were taken and three distinct places were arranged for them, though the whole group only settled in one.
Later, these places were changed in terms of space in a way that only 40 cockroaches could stay in any one place. The group then divided itself into two sub groups of 25 each and settled at two different places. Such a way of living together, brings in collective well being of the group in various ways.
Typically we think having many individual options, strategies and approaches are beneficial, 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.
The above insights could also translate into new approaches in the development of artificial intelligence.
