原文发表于PNAS。https://www.pnas.org/content/118/35/e2106292118。如果遇到Access问题，请借助Sci-hub.se.
Abstract A key question concerning collective decisions is whether a social system can settle on the best available option when some members learn from others instead of evaluating the options on their own. This question is challenging to study, and previous research has reached mixed conclusions, because collective decision outcomes depend on the insufficiently understood complex system of cognitive strategies, task properties, and social influence processes. This study integrates these complex interactions together in one general yet partially analytically tractable mathematical framework using a dynamical system model. In particular, it investigates how the interplay of the proportion of social learners, the relative merit of options, and the type of conformity response affect collective decision outcomes in a binary choice. The model predicts that, when the proportion of social learners exceeds a critical threshold, a bistable state appears in which the majority can end up favoring either the higher- or lower-merit option, depending on fluctuations and initial conditions. Below this threshold, the high-merit option is chosen by the majority. The critical threshold is determined by the conformity response function and the relative merits of the two options. The study helps reconcile disagreements about the effect of social learners on collective performance and proposes a mathematical framework that can be readily adapted to extensions investigating a wider variety of dynamics.
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文中抽象出了两种概念：独立决策者与社会学习者（或者处于这两种状态的比例混合）。模拟数据显示仅有独立决策者的比例对集体决策的质量有显著的影响。
值得一提的是，假如提出第三种概念：这种个体倾向于根据其他人的意见做出出相反的决策，他们依然属于社会学习者。有兴趣的可以把这一项加入统计试一试——他们也不影响集体决策的质量。
有必要提出的是，假设上的绝对优的选择是不存在的。因此文章仅仅导出了条件下的预测性。
