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Coevolution of cooperation, causal cognition and mindreading
H Clark Barrett1, Leda Cosmides, John Tooby
1Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture; Department of Anthropology; University of California; Los Angeles, CA USA.
Communicative & Integrative Biology
|February 19, 2011
Summary
Reciprocal altruism is rare because detecting cooperative intent is difficult. Human cooperation and social cognition skills likely coevolved due to the challenges of identifying trustworthy individuals.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Biology
- Social Cognition
- Behavioral Ecology
Background:
- The evolution of cooperation among unrelated individuals presents a significant challenge in evolutionary biology.
- While theoretical models suggest reciprocal altruism can be stable, its rarity in nature remains unexplained.
- Kin-based altruism is a common form of cooperation, but cooperation between non-relatives is less understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the reasons behind the rarity of reciprocal altruism in unrelated individuals.
- To explore the potential coevolutionary link between human cooperativeness and social cognitive abilities.
- To understand the role of intention-detection in maintaining cooperation.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of formal models of cooperation and assortment.
- Theoretical exploration of the challenges in detecting deceptive intentions.
- Discussion of empirical evidence supporting the coevolution of cooperation and social cognition.
Main Results:
- Reciprocal altruism's stability is contingent on the ability of cooperators to assort.
- The difficulty in reliably detecting cooperative intent, especially with incentives to deceive, limits reciprocal altruism.
- Humans exhibit high levels of cooperation with non-kin and advanced social cognitive skills (mindreading).
Conclusions:
- A coevolutionary relationship likely exists between human cooperativeness and social causal cognition.
- The ability to infer others' intentions is crucial for stable cooperation among non-kin.
- This coevolution may explain the unique sociality and cognitive abilities observed in humans.
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