Modelling Influence and Opinion Evolution in Online Collective Behaviour

PLoS One. 2016 Jun 23;11(6):e0157685. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0157685. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

Opinion evolution and judgment revision are mediated through social influence. Based on a large crowdsourced in vitro experiment (n = 861), it is shown how a consensus model can be used to predict opinion evolution in online collective behaviour. It is the first time the predictive power of a quantitative model of opinion dynamics is tested against a real dataset. Unlike previous research on the topic, the model was validated on data which did not serve to calibrate it. This avoids to favor more complex models over more simple ones and prevents overfitting. The model is parametrized by the influenceability of each individual, a factor representing to what extent individuals incorporate external judgments. The prediction accuracy depends on prior knowledge on the participants' past behaviour. Several situations reflecting data availability are compared. When the data is scarce, the data from previous participants is used to predict how a new participant will behave. Judgment revision includes unpredictable variations which limit the potential for prediction. A first measure of unpredictability is proposed. The measure is based on a specific control experiment. More than two thirds of the prediction errors are found to occur due to unpredictability of the human judgment revision process rather than to model imperfection.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Female
  • Games, Experimental
  • Group Processes*
  • Humans
  • Internet*
  • Judgment
  • Male
  • Models, Psychological*
  • Public Opinion
  • Social Behavior*
  • Social Control, Formal

Grants and funding

C. V. K. is a F.N.R.S./FRIA research fellow. Research was partly supported by the Belgian Interuniversity Attraction Poles, by an Actions incitatives 2014 of the Centre de Recherche en Automatique de Nancy, by project "Modélisation des dynamiques dans les réseaux d’échange de semences" (PEPS MADRES) funded by the Centre National pour la Recherche Scientifique and project "Computation Aware Control Systems" (COMPACS), ANR-13-BS03-004 funded by the Agence National pour la Recherche. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.