Societies and organization of work - part 2 Flashcards
Fitness gains from division of labor - feedback loops
- Division of labor allows the regulation of the inputs and outputs of each “station” in the series-parallel system, so that the system of throughput is optimized.
- If any one step is being completed too quickly, individuals can be reallocated or resources redirected
feedback loops - example
Brood cannibalism
feedback loops - brood cannibalism
- Sudden, high food intake leads to high egg production by the queen.
- This may lead to more larvae than can be adequately fed as they grow, based on more typical food intake rates.
- Numbers of larvae are adjusted by nurse workers by “recycling” their biomass
Fitness gains from division of labor - skill improvement
- Division of labor allows individuals to repeat a task many times.
- Repetition builds experience and increased performance
skill improvement - example
Nest emigrations in the rock ant
rock ant - The ______________________________ into the new nest is ____ with experienced individuals present
- time until the first item is transported
- less
rock ants - Individuals that transported items in the preceding emigration ___________________ in subsequent emigrations.
begin transport earlier
rock ants - Experienced individuals ____________________ in subsequent emigrations
transport more items
skill improvement - rock ants
The presence and effort of experienced individuals improves overall collective performance
Fitness gains from division of labor - collective decision making: Quorum
the minimum number of members of a society that must be present to make the decision making process valid
what is the quorum threshold approach to decision making
it is a mechanism that reduces the significance of individual error or opinion.
collective decision making - army ants: problem to be solved
Find a bigger nesting cavity among many options and opinions
army ants - inability to select best nest results in what
potential significant fitness consequences, including colony death.
collective decision making - army ants: solution to the problem
relatively simple individual-level rules combined with a collective quorum sensing decision mechanism
The most sophisticated collective task completion involves division of labor ____________________________________.
among specializing individuals trying to complete the same task