Effects of personality decay on collective movements

Abstract

In natural systems, many animals organize into groups without a designated leader and still perform complex collective behaviors. Although individuals in the group may be considered equal, all the individuals differ in the traits each of them possess. Of particular interest is the idea of an individual's personality as it often plays a role in determining which individuals lead collective behaviors. Personality is, in part, developed and maintained by an individual's experiences. However, neither an individual, nor its environment remains unchanged. Therefore, there is a need for an individual to continue to gain new experiences to ensure that its information about itself and its environment are current. Since observations have shown that the effects of experience on personality can decay over time, we investigate the effects of this decay on the emergence of leaders and followers and the resulting success of a group's collective movement attempts. Results show that personality decay has a negative effect on the overall success of the group in collective movements as it prevents the emergence of distinct personalities, a necessary requirement for individuals to assume distinct leader and follower roles.