Social Coordination: From Ants to Apes

Anne Böckler, Anna Wilkinson, Ludwig Huber, Natalie Sebanz

Research output: Contribution to Book/Report typesChapterpeer-review

Abstract (may include machine translation)

This chapter provides a comparative perspective on coordination, exploring whether common solutions to particular coordination problems-such as moving in a group, distributing tasks, coordinating actions in time, and transmitting information-exist across different species. The study of coordination tries to understand how individuals in a cooperative or neutral context adjust their actions to each other in time and space. Traveling with a large number of conspecifics requires individuals to move in a manner appropriate to maintaining group cohesion whilst avoiding collision. In group-living species, efficient foraging, hunting, or territory protection is often best achieved when tasks are divided between individuals. The chapter considers the mechanisms underlying the distribution of tasks and the integration of individual contributions. Life in social groups poses behavioral and cognitive challenges-challenges which, in turn, have shaped the evolution of group-living individuals. Already, investigating recently discovered mechanisms of human joint action in other species is enhancing understanding of how these mechanisms evolved.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Evolutionary Neuroscience
PublisherWiley-Blackwell
Pages478-494
Number of pages17
ISBN (Electronic)9781118316757
ISBN (Print)9781119994695
DOIs
StatePublished - 23 Dec 2016

Keywords

  • Behavioral challenges
  • Cognitive challenges
  • Foraging
  • Group-living individuals
  • Human joint action
  • Hunting
  • Social groups
  • Territory protection

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