Study
Flocks, herds and schools: a distributed behavioral model
Reynolds, Craig W.
ACM SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics, 1987
Simulated agents each follow three local rules — avoid crowding immediate neighbours, align heading with nearby neighbours, and steer towards the average position of nearby neighbours — with no global plan and no leader.
- Sample size
- simulated agents following three local rules
The three local rules produce coherent group motion closely resembling flocking, schooling and herding, including splitting around obstacles and rejoining afterwards.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Coordinated group movement can arise from local interactions alone, without centralised control.
How NatureHQ reads it
Included with its status stated plainly: this is a computer graphics model, and it was built to look right rather than to be right. Its influence is enormous and its evidential weight about real birds is nil. A simulation that reproduces an appearance shows the appearance is achievable that way, not that any animal does it — which is exactly why the field measurements matter.
- Not a study of animals, and makes no claim to be.
- Reproducing an appearance does not establish the mechanism behind the original.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Published by: Learned society journalsPublished in a learned society journal.
Checked against Crossref on 2026-09-28, and they agree on the title, the authors and the year.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-09-03.