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Author Flack, J.C.; de Waal, F.B.M.; Krakauer, D.C.
Title Social structure, robustness, and policing cost in a cognitively sophisticated species Type Journal Article
Year 2005 Publication The American Naturalist Abbreviated Journal Am Nat
Volume 165 Issue 5 Pages E126-139
Keywords Animals; *Behavior, Animal; Cognition; Conflict (Psychology); Female; Macaca nemestrina/*physiology; Male; Models, Biological; *Social Behavior
Abstract Conflict management is one of the primary requirements for social complexity. Of the many forms of conflict management, one of the rarest and most interesting is third-party policing, or intervening impartially to control conflict. Third-party policing should be hard to evolve because policers personally pay a cost for intervening, while the benefits are diffused over the whole group. In this study we investigate the incidence and costs of policing in a primate society. We report quantitative evidence of non-kin policing in the nonhuman primate, the pigtailed macaque. We find that policing is effective at reducing the intensity of or terminating conflict when performed by the most powerful individuals. We define a measure, social power consensus, that predicts effective low-cost interventions by powerful individuals and ineffective, relatively costly interventions by low-power individuals. Finally, we develop a simple probabilistic model to explore whether the degree to which policing can effectively reduce the societal cost of conflict is dependent on variance in the distribution of power. Our data and simple model suggest that third-party policing effectiveness and cost are dependent on power structure and might emerge only in societies with high variance in power.
Address (up) Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501, USA. jflack@santafe.edu
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1537-5323 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15795848 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 168
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Author Gardner, A., West, S. A.
Title Cooperation and Punishment, Especially in Humans Type Journal Article
Year 2004 Publication The American Naturalist Abbreviated Journal Americ. Natur.
Volume 164 Issue 6 Pages 753-764
Keywords kin selection, neighbor-modulated fitness, repression of
Abstract Explaining altruistic cooperation is one of the greatest

challenges faced by sociologists, economists, and evolutionary biologists.

The problem is determining why an individual would carry

out a costly behavior that benefits another. Possible solutions to this

problem include kinship, repeated interactions, and policing. Another

solution that has recently received much attention is the threat

of punishment. However, punishing behavior is often costly for the

punisher, and so it is not immediately clear how costly punishment

could evolve. We use a direct (neighbor-modulated) fitness approach

to analyze when punishment is favored. This methodology reveals

that, contrary to previous suggestions, relatedness between interacting

individuals is not crucial to explaining cooperation through punishment.

In fact, increasing relatedness directly disfavors punishing

behavior. Instead, the crucial factor is a positive correlation between

the punishment strategy of an individual and the cooperation it

receives. This could arise in several ways, such as when facultative

adjustment of behavior leads individuals to cooperate more when

interacting with individuals who are more likely to punish. More

generally, our results provide a clear example of how the fundamental

factor driving the evolution of social traits is a correlation between

social partners and how this can arise for reasons other than genealogical

kinship.
Address (up) University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JT,
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 341
Permanent link to this record