chp 10: cooperation Flashcards
cooperation
an outcome from which two or more interacting individuals each receives a net benefit from their joint action despite potential costs
two usages of “to cooperate”
idea of achieving cooperation in a group setting
behavior of a member that brings about achievement
benefits of cooperation
1) access to food and water
2) protection-reduce aggression from other individuals stronger than you
3) tension reduction
4) coalition formation
5) acceptance (TEAM PLAYER)
6) mating
example of cooperation in animals
bats = help birthing process by feeding mother, get her into position, and keep her and the offspring warm
male-male alliances
multi-stallion harems = lower-ranking males form alliances normally between unrelated males close in age
allogrooming
where one individual grooms another
mutual grooming
horses = most common form is nibbling, while licking is uncommon
symbiotic relationship with birds
horses and other large mammals + birds = birds eat ectoparasites or ticks off the horse and the horse protects the bird
4 paths to cooperation
1) reciprocity (exchange of favors)
2) byproduct of mutualism (a relationship between two organisms that benefits both and harms neither)
3) kin selection
4) group selection
reciprocal altruism
altruistic behavior toward unrelated individuals (can be adaptive if the aided individual reciprocates the favor)
mathematical tool employed to model these paths
game theory
game theory
mathematical tool that is used when an individual receives payoff for undertaking an action
tool used in cooperation via reciprocity
prisoner’s dilemma (tit for tat)
prisoner’s dilemma game
each player can either cooperate or defect (used to get testimony from suspects)
what can make you defect or cooperate depends on
reward or punishment
what is more costly mutual defection or mutual cooperation
mutual defection
variables in the game (matrix)
T = temptation to cheat
R = reward for mutual cooperation
P = punishment for mutual defection
S = suckers (punishment for not defection
must = T>R>P>S
what is the dilemma in the game
success of unknown out come
evolution stable strategy
strategy or behavior that if used by almost everyone in a population will not decrease in frequency when new strategy arises
ESS people
axelrod and hamilton = if the probability of meeting a given partner in future was above some critical level, a conditionally cooperative strategy called TIT for TAT will be the best solution
TIT for TAT
a rule that instructs a player to cooperate on the initial encounter with a partner and to subsequently copy its partner’s previous move
3 fundamental characteristics
1) nice = never cheats or defect first
2) retaliatory =it always responds to a partner that is cheating by cheating
3) forgiving = it only remembers one move back in time and so is capable of forgiving
who uses TFT
gruppies when they inspect predator =
T>R>P>S
T = payoff for cheating against cooperation (no punishment)
R = payoff to mutual cooperator (least punishment)
P = payoff to mutual cheaters (medium punishment)
S = payoff to a cooperator matched with a defector (highest punishment)
if both gruppies inspect side by side the probability of both fish being eaten or not being eaten is
equal
if one inspector is in front and the other is behind the probability of the trailing fish being eaten is
low and would receive a payoff of T
T > R because
the benefit is the farther the fish to the predator the more they will feed because they will be less anxious
R > P because
payoff for inspecting in a group is more (less danger) than when no one inspects (greater danger)
P > S because
while it is dangerous for no one to inspect (P), it is more dangerous to be inspecting alone. single fish suffer high rate of predation
another example of TFT
vampire bats sharing food
3 lessons of the nice gesture
1) the probability of future interaction is high
2) the cost of being nice is less than not being nice
3) they remember each other and those that have been nice to them in the past
results from the human prisoner’s dilemma game
the most emotionally rewarding payoff was that associated with mutual cooperation
neuroeconomics
shed light on proximate aspects of human reciprocity by examining which parts of brain are associated with trust and how individuals respond to cheating by their partners in some economic game
mutualism
by product of cooperation in which an individual pays an immediate cost or penalty for not acting cooperatively, such that the immediate net benefit of cooperation outweighs that of cheating
what is the difference between byproduct mutualism and reciprocity
in byproduct mutualism there is no temptation to cheat nor do individuals have to keep track of their partner’s behavior
example of byproduct mutualism
skinnerian blue jays = used P matrix (reciprocity) and M matrix (mutualism) to see the food rewards they received after pecking at cooperate or defect keys
M matrix
no temptation to defect because each received equal reward and cooperating always fared better than defecting (that is 4>1, 1>0)
P matrix
there was temptation to defect because each received high reward when defected. reciprocity failed to emerge as a stable solution
what plays a role in the establishment of cooperation
learning
another example of byproduct mutualism
house sparrows = is the call and whether the chirrup vocalization did in fact bring same species of birds to newly discovered food source and if so, under what condition
first bird to arrive at a food patch was more likely to
produce a call that attracted other birds when resources were more divisible
trait group selection model
a group in which all individuals affect one another’s fitness
2 levels
1) within-group selection
2) between group selections
within group selection
acts against cooperators and altruists, in cooperation and altruists setting since the individuals take on some cost that others do not
what phenotypes are favored by within group
selfish phenotypes because they receive benefits without paying the cost
between-group selection
favors cooperation if groups with more cooperators out produce other groups with fewer (such as producing more offspring and taking control of more land)
polyadic interaction (coalition)
cooperation action taken by at least two individuals or groups against another individual or group
alliance
when coalition exists for a long period of time
coalition
an animal intervention in a dyadic, usually aggressive, interaction between other group members
example of coalition
baboons and dolphins = in baboons coalitions are formed by males for mating a female
what are the costs or benefits to the animal that is solicited into a coalition
the cost may be high from being wounded to death and the benefits may be reciprocal when the animal that is solicited into a coalition needs help
phylogeny
an evolutionary history via common descent
what explains the origin and the distribution of cooperative breeding in some modern groups of birds
common ancestry, rather than natural selection alone
intraspecific mutualism/cooperation
cooperation among individuals within a particular species
interspecific cooperation
cooperation between individuals from different species (mutualism)
