Collaboration Conundrum: Synchrony-Cooperation Trade-off

In large groups, every collaborative act requires balancing two pressures: the need to achieve behavioural synchrony and the need to keep free riding to a minimum. This paper introduces a model of collaboration that requires both synchronisation on a social network and costly cooperation. The results show that coordination slows, and cooperativeness increases with the social network`s local integratedness, measured by the clustering coefficient. That is, in a large-group collaboration, achieving behavioural synchrony and strategic cooperation are in opposition to each other. The optimal clustering coefficient has no natural state in our species, and is determined by the ecological environment, the group`s technology set, and the group`s size. This opens the space for social technologies that solve this optimisation problem by generating optimal social network structures.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figure

Unbiased Library of k-regular, n-sized, Connected, Small Graphs

The past decade highlighted the usefulness of social network simulations that run on k-regular, n-size, connected graphs. These can be seen as small-scale models of human social networks of large societies. By narrowing down onto k-regular graphs, the degree variation can be eliminated from the research question, which allows a focus on the isolated impact by other variables, for instance, by the clustering coefficient or the size of the network. This paper describes the generation of a random graph library that uses a random walk graph creation algorithm that starts from the "chain of caves", which is the structure in which the clustering coefficient is at its maximum. This method finds mid and high clustering coefficient graphs, while Wolfram`s RandomGraph was useful for finding low ones. The merge of the two samples proved to be somewhat biased. After eliminating a host of network measures, the paper focused on mean graph distance as a further variable and created an unbiased subsample for each size and clustering coefficient bin.Comment: 49 pages,1 table, 11 figures in the main papers (and further panels of figures in the SM at the end of the paper

Network Ecology of Marriage

The practice of marriage is an understudied phenomenon in behavioural sciences despite being ubiquitous across human cultures. This modelling paper shows that replacing distant direct kin with in-laws increases the interconnectedness of the family social network graph, which allows more cooperative and larger groups. In this framing, marriage can be seen as a social technology that reduces free-riding within collaborative group. This approach offers a solution to the puzzle of why our species has this particular form of regulating mating behaviour, uniquely among pair-bonded animals.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figure

Gratitude for Help among Adult Friends and Siblings

Peer reviewe

What is the naturalistic basis of theological interpretation?

The interpretation of religious texts and artifacts—known as hermeneutics or exegesis—is a core part of religious practice. Nevertheless, biocultural models of religion largely neglect it. Here, we offer a framework for how foundational research might be initiated in this important area

D10.3: Description of Internet Science Curriculum

This document presents a proposition for a reference Internet Science curriculum that can be adapted and implemented jointly or in collaboration, by different Universities. The construction of the curriculum represents a challenge and an opportunity for the NoE, as it represents the essence of Internet Science. What are the main aspects to be taught? What is the kernel? These questions are answered by the curriculum. The curriculum is a reference document and a guideline for the different universities wishing to implement it. It has to allow for adaptation to the heterogeneous national and institutional contexts. Nonetheless, our goal is to have the curriculum provide a definitive basis for a universally - recognised degree, considering the related constraints in order to ensure compatibility. In this way, the curriculum presented here is the root of a range of curricula; it may lead to a degree within an existing Departmental course, an autonomous an d dedicated degree or a component of new joint degrees. This document presents the process that lead s to the construction of the curriculum, followed by the main goal, the scientific content and issues related to possible implementation. The version presented here is a preliminary version. This is due to several reasons; most noticeable being that the choice of the implementation schema is currently under study (deliverable due for end of 2014) and it s input might influence the form or content of the curriculum. On the other hand, we will start collecting feedback, which will might as well trigger changes. The curricula in its current form it’s been subject to a communication at WebSci Education Workshop, held in conjunction with the Web Science 2014 Conference, in Bloomington, Indiana, June 2014. We had positive feedback during the conference from the web - science community. The 6 theme balanced structure was particularly appreciated

Homophily in Personality Enhances Group Success Among Real-Life Friends

Personality affects dyadic relations and teamwork, yet its role among groups of friends has been little explored. We examine for the first time whether similarity in personality enhances the effectiveness of real-life friendship groups. Using data from a longitudinal study of a European fraternity (10 male and 15 female groups), we investigate how individual Big Five personality traits were associated with group formation and whether personality homophily related to how successful the groups were over 1 year (N = 147–196). Group success was measured as group performance/identification (adoption of group markers) and as group bonding (using the inclusion-of-other-in-self scale). Results show that individuals’ similarity in neuroticism and conscientiousness predicted group formation. Furthermore, personality similarity was associated with group success, even after controlling for individual’s own personality. Especially higher group-level similarity in conscientiousness was associated with group performance, and with bonding in male groups.Peer reviewe