Wolfram Barfuss

Citation: Bergerot C, Barfuss W, Romanczuk P (2024) Moderate confirmation bias enhances decision-making in groups of reinforcement-learning agents. PLoS Comput Biol 20(9): e1012404. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012404 Editor: Stefano Palminteri, Ecole Normale Superieure, FRANCE Received: March 19, 2024; Accepted: August 9, 2024; Published: September 4, 2024 Copyright: © 2024 Bergerot et al.

Abstract Humans tend to give more weight to information confirming their beliefs than to information that disconfirms them. Nevertheless, this apparent irrationality has been shown to improve individual decision-making under uncertainty. However, little is known about this bias' impact on collective decision-making. Here, we investigate the conditions under which confirmation bias is beneficial or detrimental to collective decision-making.

Abstract Collective behavior provides a framework for understanding how the actions and properties of groups emerge from the way individuals generate and share information. In humans, information flows were initially shaped by natural selection yet are increasingly structured by emerging communication technologies. Our larger, more complex social networks now transfer high-fidelity information over vast distances at low cost.