Diversity Improves Speed and Accuracy in Social Networks

Abstract

How does temporally structured private and social information shape collective decisions? To address this question we consider a network of rational agents who independently accumulate private evidence that triggers a decision upon reaching a threshold. When seen by the whole network, the first agent's choice initiates a wave of new decisions; later decisions have less impact. In heterogeneous networks, first decisions are made quickly by impulsive individuals who need little evidence to make a choice, but, even when wrong, can reveal the correct options to nearly everyone else. We conclude that groups comprised of diverse individuals can make more efficient decisions than homogenous ones.

6 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (2)

• A common rule for decision-making in animal collectives across species
• Decision Dynamics in Groups with Interacting Members

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Extreme hitting probabilities for diffusion
• Collective decision-making under changing social environments among agents adapted to sparse connectivity
• Catalyzing collaborations: Prescribed interactions at conferences determine team formation
• A model for cooperative scientific research inspired by the ant colony algorithm
• Fast decisions reflect biases, slow decisions do not