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Group Cooperation without Group Selection: Modest Punishment Can Recruit Much Cooperation
Max M Krasnow1, Andrew W Delton2, Leda Cosmides3
1Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Plos One
|April 21, 2015
Summary
Group cooperation evolves through punishment, even in large groups. By making punishment probabilistic, allowing recovery, and enabling multi-group interactions, direct selection easily supports cooperation.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Social behavior
- Agent-based modeling
Background:
- Humans cooperate in groups for mutual benefit, but free-riding threatens cooperation.
- Punishment is a proposed solution to the evolution of group cooperation.
- Previous models suggested punishment alone is insufficient due to second-order free-riders.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if group cooperation sustained by punishment can evolve via individual selection.
- To test the impact of more biologically plausible assumptions on cooperation models.
- To determine if punishment alone is sufficient for cooperation evolution.
Main Methods:
- Agent-based simulations were used to model social interactions.
- Standard models were modified by relaxing three unrealistic assumptions.
- Assumptions relaxed: punishment cost, punishment's effect on fitness, and agent interaction scope.
Main Results:
- Group cooperation sustained by punishment evolves easily by individual selection.
- Probabilistic punishment significantly lowers costs in larger groups.
- Allowing punished individuals to cooperate in the future and multi-group interactions enhance cooperation evolution.
Conclusions:
- Punishment and cooperation can evolve through direct selection, even in large groups.
- Realistic assumptions about social ecology and psychology are crucial for understanding cooperation.
- Punishment, when modeled realistically, is sufficient to maintain group cooperation.
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