Fish learn collectively, but groups with differing personalities are slower to decide and more likely to split
We tested zebrafish shoals to examine whether groups exhibit collective spatial learning and whether this relates to the personality of group members. To do this we trained shoals to associate a collective spatial decision with a reward and tested whether shoals could reorient to the learned locatio...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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The Company of Biologists
2018-05-01
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| Series: | Biology Open |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://bio.biologists.org/content/7/5/bio033613 |
| _version_ | 1818671655386349568 |
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| author | Kyriacos Kareklas Robert W. Elwood Richard A. Holland |
| author_facet | Kyriacos Kareklas Robert W. Elwood Richard A. Holland |
| author_sort | Kyriacos Kareklas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We tested zebrafish shoals to examine whether groups exhibit collective spatial learning and whether this relates to the personality of group members. To do this we trained shoals to associate a collective spatial decision with a reward and tested whether shoals could reorient to the learned location from a new starting point. There were strong indications of collective learning and collective reorienting, most likely by memorising distal cues, but these processes were unrelated to personality differences within shoals. However, there was evidence that group decisions require agreement between differing personalities. Notably, shoals with more boldness variation were more likely to split during training trials and took longer to reach a collective decision. Thus cognitive tasks, such as learning and cue memorisation, may be exhibited collectively, but the ability to reach collective decisions is affected by the personality composition of the group. A likely outcome of the splitting of groups with very disparate personalities is the formation of groups with members more similar in their personality. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T07:27:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2efef31b1ff74d9d9870451dcb900b5c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2046-6390 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T07:27:27Z |
| publishDate | 2018-05-01 |
| publisher | The Company of Biologists |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Biology Open |
| spelling | doaj.art-2efef31b1ff74d9d9870451dcb900b5c2022-12-21T21:58:35ZengThe Company of BiologistsBiology Open2046-63902018-05-017510.1242/bio.033613033613Fish learn collectively, but groups with differing personalities are slower to decide and more likely to splitKyriacos Kareklas0Robert W. Elwood1Richard A. Holland2 School of Biological Sciences, Medical Biology Centre, Queen's University Belfast, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT9 7BL, UK School of Biological Sciences, Medical Biology Centre, Queen's University Belfast, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland, BT9 7BL, UK School of Biological Sciences, Bangor University, Deiniol Road, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2UW, UK We tested zebrafish shoals to examine whether groups exhibit collective spatial learning and whether this relates to the personality of group members. To do this we trained shoals to associate a collective spatial decision with a reward and tested whether shoals could reorient to the learned location from a new starting point. There were strong indications of collective learning and collective reorienting, most likely by memorising distal cues, but these processes were unrelated to personality differences within shoals. However, there was evidence that group decisions require agreement between differing personalities. Notably, shoals with more boldness variation were more likely to split during training trials and took longer to reach a collective decision. Thus cognitive tasks, such as learning and cue memorisation, may be exhibited collectively, but the ability to reach collective decisions is affected by the personality composition of the group. A likely outcome of the splitting of groups with very disparate personalities is the formation of groups with members more similar in their personality.http://bio.biologists.org/content/7/5/bio033613Collective cognitionDecision-makingPersonalitySpatial learningShoaling |
| spellingShingle | Kyriacos Kareklas Robert W. Elwood Richard A. Holland Fish learn collectively, but groups with differing personalities are slower to decide and more likely to split Biology Open Collective cognition Decision-making Personality Spatial learning Shoaling |
| title | Fish learn collectively, but groups with differing personalities are slower to decide and more likely to split |
| title_full | Fish learn collectively, but groups with differing personalities are slower to decide and more likely to split |
| title_fullStr | Fish learn collectively, but groups with differing personalities are slower to decide and more likely to split |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fish learn collectively, but groups with differing personalities are slower to decide and more likely to split |
| title_short | Fish learn collectively, but groups with differing personalities are slower to decide and more likely to split |
| title_sort | fish learn collectively but groups with differing personalities are slower to decide and more likely to split |
| topic | Collective cognition Decision-making Personality Spatial learning Shoaling |
| url | http://bio.biologists.org/content/7/5/bio033613 |
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