Anticipating others' future behaviours alters collective movement and enhances survival

Abstract

Current models of collective animal movement explain several emergent phenomena. However, these models do not account for animals potential ability to forecast each others decision-making processes. The ability to predict and account for the behaviours of others is likely unique to animals, and the relevance of this ability in collective movement merits exploration. I granted anticipatory abilities to Hamiltons selfish herd, a classic model of collective behaviour, using 14000 simulated populations and explored the consequences of this ability on collective movement patterns. I also simulated competitions between agents with and without anticipatory abilities, and showed that anticipation may confer a survival advantage.