Social interactions in group movements

Speaker: Nikolai Bode (Bristol University)

Abstract

Migrating flocks of birds, schools of fish and commuters exiting underground stations are examples for aggregations of moving individuals. The general consensus is that the dynamics of such group movements arise from interactions between individuals. In this talk, I will give examples of how we can explore the nature, extent and consequences of social interactions in moving aggregations. I will show how we can estimate the extent to which individuals interact socially in aggregations that move towards a fixed target by fitting individual-based models for group movement to simulated or empirical data. Then, I will demonstrate the use of statistical model selection to identify the most likely mechanism for information transfer in group responses to environmental stimuli. Finally, I will discuss ongoing work on statistical models that are designed to capture interactions between pedestrians in front of bottlenecks, such as doors.