Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28659413›Full record

ArticleJournal of the Royal Society, Interface2017

Modelling the spread of innovation in wild birds.

Thomas R Shultz, Marcel Montrey, Lucy M Aplin

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of the Royal Society, Interface, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
2.2field-weighted citation impact, top 9% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Cultural processes and demography: implications for conservation and beyond.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Modelling the spread of innovation in wild birds.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2017
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Thomas R ShultzDepartment of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 1B1 thomas.shultz@mcgill.ca.ORCID 0000-0003-2413-8840
Marcel MontreyDepartment of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 1B1.
Lucy M AplinEdward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 8QJ, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-5367-826X
McGill University · CAUniversity of Oxford · GB

Funding

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council BB/L006081/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

We apply three plausible algorithms in agent-based computer simulations to recent experiments on social learning in wild birds. Although some of the phenomena are simulated by all three learning algorithms, several manifestations of social conformity bias are simulated by only the approximate majority (AM) algorithm, which has roots in chemistry, molecular biology and theoretical computer science. The simulations generate testable predictions and provide several explanatory insights into the diffusion of innovation through a population. The AM algorithm's success raises the possibility of its usefulness in studying group dynamics more generally, in several different scientific domains. Our differential-equation model matches simulation results and provides mathematical insights into the dynamics of these algorithms.

Indexed as

Animals, WildLearningModels, BiologicalAlgorithmsAnimalsBehavior, AnimalBirdsComputer SimulationSocial Behavioragent-based computer simulationanimal cultureconformity biasdifferential equationsinnovation diffusionsocial learning

Identifiers

PMID28659413
PMCPMC5493804
OpenAlexW2729417748

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.