Four-Types of IIT-Induced Group Integrity of Plecoglossus altivelis

Abstract

Integrated information theory (IIT) was initially proposed to describe human consciousness in terms of intrinsic-causal brain network structures. Particularly, IIT 3.0 targets the system’s cause–effect structure from spatio-temporal grain and reveals the system’s irreducibility. In a previous study, we tried to apply IIT 3.0 to an actual collective behaviour in Plecoglossus altivelis. We found that IIT 3.0 exhibits qualitative discontinuity between three and four schools of fish in terms of Φ value distributions. Other measures did not show similar characteristics. In this study, we followed up on our previous findings and introduced two new factors. First, we defined the global parameter settings to determine a different kind of group integrity. Second, we set several timescales (from Δ t = 5 / 120 to Δ t = 120 / 120 s). The results showed that we succeeded in classifying fish schools according to their group sizes and the degree of group integrity around the reaction time scale of the fish, despite the small group sizes. Compared with the short time scale, the interaction heterogeneity observed in the long time scale seems to diminish. Finally, we discuss one of the longstanding paradoxes in collective behaviour, known as the heap paradox, for which two tentative answers could be provided through our IIT 3.0 analysis.

Information structure of heterogeneous criticality in a fish school

“…For instance, as a purely theoretical application, the degree of integrity (Φ) accurately measures a critical state [46], such as the edge of chaos [41]. Niizato et al also applied IIT to an empirical system (e.g., a fish school [43,44] and body information [45]), and they found a characteristic structure that was not observed in other information-theoretic analyses.…”

“…The basic concept of IIT is summarised in the proposition that the degree of consciousness can be measured as the difference between the entire system and the sum of its parts (i.e., Φ). Although IIT has its roots in neurological interest, its applications can extend to general systems [39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 7]. For instance, as a purely theoretical application, the degree of integrity (Φ) accurately measures a critical state [46], such as the edge of chaos[41].…”

Information structure of heterogeneous criticality in a fish school

“…The basic concept of IIT is summarised in the proposition that the degree of consciousness can be measured as the difference between the entire system and the sum of its parts (i.e., Φ). Although IIT has its roots in neurological interest, its applications can extend to general systems [39,40,41,42,43,44,45]. For instance, as a purely theoretical application, the degree of integrity (Φ) accurately measures a critical state [46], such as the edge of chaos [41].…”

The effect of group size and task involvement on temporal binding window in clap perception

“…Second, in real-world situations, we cannot expect a solid cause-and-effect relationship in group behaviour as we would in previous experimental settings. For instance, in a group clapping scenario, it is challenging to discriminate between the leader and followers as the group size increases (note that this ambiguity is ubiquitous in animal collective behaviour Grégoire et al, 2003 ; Cavagna et al, 2015 ; Niizato et al, 2020 ). This ambiguity requires high task involvement to synchronise timing with other members.…”