title: Herd Those Sheep: Emergent Multiagent Coordination and Behavioral-Mode Switching.
abstract: Effectively coordinating one's behaviors with those of others is essential for successful multiagent activity. In recent years, increased attention has been given to understanding the dynamical principles that underlie such coordination because of a growing interest in behavioral synchrony and complex-systems phenomena. Here, we examined the behavioral dynamics of a novel, multiagent shepherding task, in which pairs of individuals had to corral small herds of virtual sheep in the center of a virtual game field. Initially, all pairs adopted a complementary, search-and-recover mode of behavioral coordination, in which both members corralled sheep predominantly on their own sides of the field. Over the course of game play, however, a significant number of pairs spontaneously discovered a more effective mode of behavior: coupled oscillatory containment, in which both members synchronously oscillated around the sheep. Analysis and modeling revealed that both modes were defined by the task's underlying dynamics and, moreover, reflected context-specific realizations of the lawful dynamics that define functional shepherding behavior more generally.
authors.affiliation: 1 Center for Cognition, Action & Perception, University of Cincinnati.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nalepka
authors.affiliation: 1 Center for Cognition, Action & Perception, University of Cincinnati.
authors.forename: Rachel W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Kallen
authors.affiliation: 1 Center for Cognition, Action & Perception, University of Cincinnati.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chemero
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Physical Therapy & Athletic Training, Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, Boston University.|3 Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT.
authors.forename: Elliot
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Saltzman
authors.affiliation: 1 Center for Cognition, Action & Perception, University of Cincinnati.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Richardson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D012756:Sheep; D012919:Social Behavior; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: complex systems; dynamical modeling; joint action; multiagent systems; open data; social coordination; task dynamics