How learning affects the evolution of strong reciprocity

Authored by Juan Pablo Calderon, Roberto Zarama

Date Published: 2006

DOI: 10.1177/105971230601400306

Sponsors: No sponsors listed

Platforms: No platforms listed

Model Documentation: Other Narrative

Model Code URLs: Model code not found

Abstract

Experiments show that humans cooperate with non-kin, including people they will never meet again, and punish non-cooperators at personal cost. This is called strong reciprocity. It has recently been suggested, based on evolutionary simulations of an agent-based model inspired by the ultimatum game, that strong reciprocity may arise from individual selection. Ontogenic adaptations were introduced to the model to see how phenotypic plasticity affects the evolution of strong reciprocity. The influence of plasticity is explored by varying the way in which agents adapt. Simulations show that plasticity during an agent's lifetime changes the path of evolution toward interesting behaviors that better approach those observed in humans. As plasticity is increased, the average offers and acceptance threshold also increase.

Tags

Ultimatum game Learning Evolution of cooperation evolution of strong reciprocity ontogenic adaptations