Abstract
Humans routinely form groups to achieve goals that no individual could accomplish on their own. Across several collective behavior paradigms that we have studied, effective group coordination arises not from all members acting in unison, but from a division of labor that emerges during group interactions. Successful division of labor is facilitated by players assuming specialized roles, with players over time becoming more consistent in their own behavior, and more differentiated from the other players. The computational models that fit human group behavior the best and also perform the best have mechanisms to A) communicate intentions, plans, and proposals across group members, B) adapt to feedback provided by the environment, C) repulse a member’s behavior from others, D) create plans at multiple temporal scales, from moment-to-moment shifts in task coverage to the lifelong development of expertise, and E) infer other members’ knowledge and intentions from their behaviors.
About the speaker
Robert Goldstone is a Distinguished Professor in the Psychological and Brain Sciences department and Cognitive Science program at Indiana University. His research interests include concept learning and representation, perceptual learning, educational applications of cognitive science, decision making, collective behavior, and computational modeling of human cognition. He won the 1996 Chase Memorial Prize, the 2000 APA Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology, a 2004 Troland research award from the National Academy of Sciences, and the 2024 Warren Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Experimental Psychology from the Society of Experimental Psychologists. He was the executive editor of Cognitive Science from 2001-2005, Director of the Indiana University Cognitive Science Program from 2006-2011, and executive editor of Current Directions in Psychological Science from 2020-2025. He has been elected as a fellow of the Society of Experimental Psychologists, the Cognitive Science Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.