Magnitude of innovation code from The magnitude of innovation and its evolution in social animals

Matlab code used in the simulations presented in this pape

Experimental setup and model structure.

<p>A) A “Box”. The “Flap” technique involved going through a black cat flap to obtain food from a pot; the “Tube” technique involved pushing through a fabric sleeve on the tube and breaking a paper lid to obtain food; B) experimental layout of the two identical Boxes; C) diagrammatic representation of the stochastic mechanism-fitting model (SMFM) showing the three rates of transition that were modelled. In reality ‘rate of interaction’ involved modelling four ‘competing’ transition rates, to each of the four options available: left Flap, right Flap, left Tube and right Tube. We recorded an individual as solving the task when it gained access to food inside the box, and as abandoning the task when it terminated a bout of interaction without gaining access to food inside the box.</p

Summary of effects found on meerkats’ task solving behaviour, and our interpretation.

<p>See also <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0042044#pone-0042044-g002" target="_blank">Fig. 2</a>.</p

Group differences in manipulations of the flap and tube.

<p>A) The number of manipulations of the flap and tube; B) the number of successful manipulations of the flap and tube; C) the proportion of individuals that manipulated the flap and tube; and D) the proportion of individuals solving the task using the flap and tube. Trained demonstrators are not included in all cases. Letter codes refer to different groups.</p

Diagrammatic representation of all effects found.

<p>Each effect is described and interpreted in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0042044#pone-0042044-t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a>. The positioning of the arrow for each effect represents the transition rate affected. Green arrows mean a rate of transition was found to be a function of an individual’s previous manipulations of the task, interpreted as asocial learning or changes in motivation. Red arrows mean a rate of transition was found to be a function of the number of previous observations, interpreted as direct social learning. The blue arrow indicates the rate of interaction was found to be a function of the time since last observation at each option, interpreted as a transient local enhancement effect. + or - indicates whether the transition rate was positively or negatively associated with the variable in question.</p

Specificity of the transient social effect for different age classes for the current study and the previous experiment by Thornton and Malapert [<b>21</b>].

<p>Specificity quantifies the probability a naive observer will use the same option-type it has observed, given that it manipulates one of them immediately after observation. The mean of the posterior sample is shown in each case, with the 95% central interval. * Indicates that the 95% central interval for the difference between the two studies did not include zero, whereas NS signifies that it did.</p

Pair correlation plot for dataset_3.

<p>Pair correlation plot for dataset_3.</p

Asymmetric interaction between two individuals, x1 and x2.

<p>The interaction between individual x1 on x2 is calculated as the area of overlap between the two zones of influence and divided by the area of the zone of influence of individual x2. The proportion of area of overlap is greater for individual x2 than x1, as x2 has a smaller interaction radius.</p

Model trace plots.

<p>(A) Model trace plot (for the last 1000 iterations of the simulation) for model discrimination between models 2 and 3. (B) Model trace plot (for the last 100 iterations of the simulation) for model discrimination between models 2 and 3.</p

Zone of influence.

<p>(A) Zone of influence where the influence is constant within the entirety of the zone, and (B) Zone of influence where the influence decreases as the distance from the centre of the zone increases.</p