Zachary Kilpatrick, Department of Applied Mathematics, 彩民宝典
Heterogeneity improves speed and accuracy in social networks
How does temporally structured private and social information shape collective decisions? To聽address this question we聽consider a clique of rational agents who independently accumulate聽private evidence that triggers a decision upon聽reaching a threshold. Agents鈥� individual beliefs are given by drift-diffusion equations that receive pulsatile inputs from other deciding agents, according to a normative model derived using Bayesian sequential updating. When seen by the whole聽network, the first agent鈥檚 choice initiates a wave of new decisions; later聽decisions have less impact. The time and accuracy of the group decision is determined by the extremal statistics of a first passage time problem. In heterogeneous networks, first decisions are made quickly by impulsive individuals who need little聽evidence to make a聽choice, but, even when wrong, can reveal the correct options to nearly everyone聽else.聽We conclude that groups comprised of diverse individuals can make more efficient decisions聽than homogenous ones. This is joint work with Bhargav Karamched (Florida State), Kre拧imir Josi膰 (U Houston), Megan Stickler (U Houston), Benjamin Lindner (Humboldt U Berlin), and Will Ott (U Houston).