Cargando…
Cognitive resource allocation determines the organization of personal networks
The typical human personal social network contains about 150 relationships including kin, friends, and acquaintances, organized into a set of hierarchically inclusive layers of increasing size but decreasing emotional intensity. Data from a number of different sources reveal that these inclusive lay...
Autores principales: | , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
National Academy of Sciences
2018
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6099867/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30049707 http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1719233115 |
_version_ | 1783348755582418944 |
---|---|
author | Tamarit, Ignacio Cuesta, José A. Dunbar, Robin I. M. Sánchez, Angel |
author_facet | Tamarit, Ignacio Cuesta, José A. Dunbar, Robin I. M. Sánchez, Angel |
author_sort | Tamarit, Ignacio |
collection | PubMed |
description | The typical human personal social network contains about 150 relationships including kin, friends, and acquaintances, organized into a set of hierarchically inclusive layers of increasing size but decreasing emotional intensity. Data from a number of different sources reveal that these inclusive layers exhibit a constant scaling ratio of [Formula: see text]. While the overall size of the networks has been connected to our cognitive capacity, no mechanism explaining why the networks present a layered structure with a consistent scaling has been proposed. Here we show that the existence of a heterogeneous cost to relationships (in terms of time or cognitive investment), together with a limitation in the total capacity an individual has to invest in them, can naturally explain the existence of layers and, when the cost function is linear, explain the scaling between them. We develop a one-parameter Bayesian model that fits the empirical data remarkably well. In addition, the model predicts the existence of a contrasting regime in the case of small communities, such that the layers have an inverted structure (increasing size with increasing emotional intensity). We test the model with five communities and provide clear evidence of the existence of the two predicted regimes. Our model explains, based on first principles, the emergence of structure in the organization of personal networks and allows us to predict a rare phenomenon whose existence we confirm empirically. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6099867 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2018 |
publisher | National Academy of Sciences |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-60998672018-08-21 Cognitive resource allocation determines the organization of personal networks Tamarit, Ignacio Cuesta, José A. Dunbar, Robin I. M. Sánchez, Angel Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Social Sciences The typical human personal social network contains about 150 relationships including kin, friends, and acquaintances, organized into a set of hierarchically inclusive layers of increasing size but decreasing emotional intensity. Data from a number of different sources reveal that these inclusive layers exhibit a constant scaling ratio of [Formula: see text]. While the overall size of the networks has been connected to our cognitive capacity, no mechanism explaining why the networks present a layered structure with a consistent scaling has been proposed. Here we show that the existence of a heterogeneous cost to relationships (in terms of time or cognitive investment), together with a limitation in the total capacity an individual has to invest in them, can naturally explain the existence of layers and, when the cost function is linear, explain the scaling between them. We develop a one-parameter Bayesian model that fits the empirical data remarkably well. In addition, the model predicts the existence of a contrasting regime in the case of small communities, such that the layers have an inverted structure (increasing size with increasing emotional intensity). We test the model with five communities and provide clear evidence of the existence of the two predicted regimes. Our model explains, based on first principles, the emergence of structure in the organization of personal networks and allows us to predict a rare phenomenon whose existence we confirm empirically. National Academy of Sciences 2018-08-14 2018-07-26 /pmc/articles/PMC6099867/ /pubmed/30049707 http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1719233115 Text en Copyright © 2018 the Author(s). Published by PNAS. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This open access article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) . |
spellingShingle | Social Sciences Tamarit, Ignacio Cuesta, José A. Dunbar, Robin I. M. Sánchez, Angel Cognitive resource allocation determines the organization of personal networks |
title | Cognitive resource allocation determines the organization of personal networks |
title_full | Cognitive resource allocation determines the organization of personal networks |
title_fullStr | Cognitive resource allocation determines the organization of personal networks |
title_full_unstemmed | Cognitive resource allocation determines the organization of personal networks |
title_short | Cognitive resource allocation determines the organization of personal networks |
title_sort | cognitive resource allocation determines the organization of personal networks |
topic | Social Sciences |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6099867/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30049707 http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1719233115 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT tamaritignacio cognitiveresourceallocationdeterminestheorganizationofpersonalnetworks AT cuestajosea cognitiveresourceallocationdeterminestheorganizationofpersonalnetworks AT dunbarrobinim cognitiveresourceallocationdeterminestheorganizationofpersonalnetworks AT sanchezangel cognitiveresourceallocationdeterminestheorganizationofpersonalnetworks |