Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Population Growth

Population Growth

Population size is dynamic, increasing with birth rates and immigration, and decreasing with death rates and emigration. In ideal conditions with unlimited resources, populations can increase exponentially, which plots as a J-shaped growth rate curve of population size against time. This type of curve is characteristic of newly-introduced invasive species, or populations that have suffered catastrophic declines and are rebounding.However, realistic environmental conditions limit the number of...

Limits to Natural Selection

Limits to Natural Selection

Organisms that are well-adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. However, natural selection does not lead to perfectly adapted organisms. Several factors constrain natural selection.For one, natural selection can only act upon existing genetic variation. Hypothetically, redtusks may enhance elephant survival by deterring ivory-seeking poachers. However, if there are no gene variants—or alleles—for redtusks, natural selection cannot increase the prevalence of...

Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift

Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift

In a population that is not at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the frequency of alleles changes over time. Therefore, any deviations from the five conditions of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium can alter the genetic variation of a given population. Conditions that change the genetic variability of a population include mutations, natural selection, non-random mating, gene flow, and genetic drift (small population size).Mechanisms of Genetic VariationThe original sources of genetic variation are mutations,...

Modeling with Differential Equations

Modeling with Differential Equations

Population dynamics can be described mathematically by considering the population size P(t) as a function of time. The rate of change of the population is then represented by the derivative of P(t). A simple assumption is that the rate of growth is proportional to the size of the population itself. This leads to an exponential growth model, where the population increases rapidly without bound. While this is a useful first approximation, it does not reflect realistic long-term...

Speciation Rates

Speciation Rates

Speciation can proceed at markedly different rates, and evolutionary biologists commonly describe these differences through the models of gradualism and punctuated equilibrium. Both patterns explain how new species arise, but they differ in the tempo and continuity of evolutionary change. In both cases, evolutionary change arises from heritable variation within populations, with natural selection often shaping traits that improve survival and reproduction under specific environmental conditions.

Evolutionary Processes in Microbes

Evolutionary Processes in Microbes

Microbial evolution occurs rapidly due to short generation times and a variety of genetic processes, including horizontal gene transfer, mutation, recombination, and genetic drift. These mechanisms collectively enable microbes to adapt swiftly to changing environments.Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) allows genes to move between different species and occurs through three main mechanisms: conjugation, transformation, and transduction. Conjugation involves direct cell-to-cell contact for DNA...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

The Effectiveness of the Parent Support Program: a Randomized Controlled Trial of an Online Intervention to Increase Parental Support Among Parents and Caregivers of Trans and Nonbinary Youth.

Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Predicting the Effectiveness of Population Replacement Strategy Using Mathematical Modeling

Predicting the Effectiveness of Population Replacement Strategy Using Mathematical Modeling

Published on: July 4, 2007

Evolution and the ultimatum game: An agent-based model with interbirth intervals and population structure.

Jeffrey C Schank¹, Matt L Miller²

¹Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, California, United States of America.

Plos Computational Biology

|June 16, 2026

Summary

Generous offers and acceptance gaps in the ultimatum game (UG) evolve in agent-based models with group structure and limited reproduction, offering a biologically realistic explanation for human prosocial behavior.

More Related Videos

Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations

Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations

Published on: February 3, 2023

Daily Transfers, Archiving Populations, and Measuring Fitness in the Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli

Daily Transfers, Archiving Populations, and Measuring Fitness in the Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli

Published on: August 18, 2023

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Predicting the Effectiveness of Population Replacement Strategy Using Mathematical Modeling

Predicting the Effectiveness of Population Replacement Strategy Using Mathematical Modeling

Published on: July 4, 2007

Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations

Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations

Published on: February 3, 2023

Daily Transfers, Archiving Populations, and Measuring Fitness in the Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli

Daily Transfers, Archiving Populations, and Measuring Fitness in the Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli

Published on: August 18, 2023

Area of Science:

Evolutionary game theory
Behavioral economics
Anthropology

Background:

Human behavior in the ultimatum game (UG) deviates from game-theoretic predictions, showing generous offers and significant offer-acceptance gaps.
Existing evolutionary models struggle to explain these behaviors due to a lack of biological realism.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop and test a biologically realistic agent-based model of the UG.
To investigate the evolutionary drivers of generous offers and offer-acceptance gaps in human behavior.

Main Methods:

Agent-based modeling simulating agents in group-structured populations.
Incorporating biologically realistic constraints: reproduction dependent on resource accumulation and limited by interbirth intervals.
Simulations assessed evolutionary patterns against meta-analyses of human UG data.

Main Results:

Generous offers and offer-acceptance gaps robustly evolved in simulations with group structure and interbirth intervals.
These evolved behaviors align with patterns observed in human UG experimental data.
Interbirth intervals and group structure interact to modulate costs, favoring the evolution of observed prosocial behaviors.

Conclusions:

Group structure and interbirth intervals are essential for explaining prosocial behavior in the UG.
The proposed model provides a more biologically realistic framework for understanding human fairness and cooperation.
Findings challenge models relying solely on weak selection or high mutation rates.