标题： 关于异构网络中最佳选择问题中的狂热分子的作用 显示英文标题

标题： On the role of zealots in a best-of-n problem on a heterogeneous network

摘要： 人类和群居动物都生活在群体中，并经常需要在不同质量的选项之间做出选择。当没有领导者控制群体决策时，共识可以通过群体成员之间的反复互动达成。 关于CDM的各种研究展示了意见动态如何由社会网络结构以及个体在社交互动中分享和更新意见的方法所决定。 本文我们感兴趣的是进一步探讨认知、社会和环境因素如何交互影响确定涉及不对称选项的集体最佳n决策过程的结果，即每个选项具有不同的成本和/或收益。 我们提出并研究了一个新的模型，该模型捕捉了这些不同的因素：i）处理社会信息的错误，ii）狂热者（即从不改变意见的非社会性代理）的数量，iii）选项质量，iv）社会连接结构，以及v）非社会性代理的度中心性。 通过使用HMF方法，我们研究了上述因素对决策动态的影响。 我们的发现表明，当易感代理使用投票者模型作为更新意见的机制时，狂热者的数量和连通性程度可以引导群体收敛到最低质量的选项上。 相反，当易感代理使用更耗费认知资源的方法时，群体受到狂热者存在的影响较小。 分析模型的结果由基于代理的模拟补充并扩展。 我们的分析还显示，网络拓扑可以调节狂热者对群体动力学的影响。 显示英文摘要

摘要： Both humans and social animals live in groups and are frequently faced to choose between options with different qualities. When no leader agents are controlling the group decision, consensus can be achieved through repeated interactions among group members. Various studies on CDM illustrate how the dynamics of opinions are determined by the structure of the social network and the methods that individuals use to share and update their opinion upon a social interaction. In this paper, we are interested in further exploring how cognitive, social, and environmental factors interactively contribute to determining the outcome of a collective best-of-n decision process involving asymmetric options, i.e., different costs and/or benefits for each option. We propose and study a novel model capturing those different factors, i) the error in processing social information, ii) the number of zealots (i.e., asocial agents who never change their opinion), iii) the option qualities, iv) the social connectivity structure, and v) the degree centrality of the asocial agents. By using the HMF approach, we study the impact of the above-mentioned factors in the decision dynamics. Our findings indicate that when susceptible agents use the voter model as a mechanism to update their opinion, both the number and the degree of connectivity of the zealots can lead the population to converge towards the lowest quality option. Instead, when susceptible agents use methods more cognitively demanding, the group is marginally impacted by the presence of zealots. The results of the analytical model are complemented and extended by agent-based simulations. Our analysis also shows that the network topology can modulate the influence of zealots on group dynamics.