Multi-agent Simulation Showing Adaptive Property of Misperception

Misperception is defined as wrong beliefs, which are generated when an individual receives or processes information. Misperception has been assumed to be harmful in general. However, misperception can be adaptive, for example, in the case that concentrated searching toward specific resources reduces diversity in collective behavior. First, we focus on adaptive property of misperception, and propose our hypothesis regarding it. Then, we construct a computational model for a resource-searching problem by using multi-agent modeling. By conducting evolutionary simulation, we investigate both “direct misperception”, that are caused when obtaining information directly from environment, and “indirect misperception”, that are caused when obtaining information indirectly through communication. The experimental results have shown that misperception could increase diversity in behavior of agents, thus could be adaptive, while accurate communication could decrease a diversity of agent behavior, which might decrease fitness. This paper also discusses a correlative relationship between direct misperception and indirect misperception.