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Andrews K, Fitzpatrick S, Westra E. Human and nonhuman norms: a dimensional framework. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20230026. [PMID: 38244597 PMCID: PMC10799728 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 01/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Human communities teem with a variety of social norms. In order to change unjust and harmful social norms, it is crucial to identify the psychological processes that give rise to them. Most researchers take it for granted that social norms are uniquely human. By contrast, we approach this matter from a comparative perspective, leveraging recent research on animal social behaviour. While there is currently only suggestive evidence for norms in nonhuman communities, we argue that human social norms are likely produced by a wide range of mechanisms, many of which we share with nonhuman animals. Approaching this variability from a comparative perspective can help norm researchers expand and reframe the range of hypotheses they test when attempting to understand the causes of socially normative behaviours in humans. First, we diagnose some of the theoretical obstacles to developing a comparative science of social norms, and offer a few basic constructs and distinctions to help norm researchers overcome these obstacles. Then we develop a six-dimensional model of the psychological and social factors that contribute to variability in both human and potential nonhuman norms. This article is part of the theme issue 'Social norm change: drivers and consequences'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristin Andrews
- Department of Philosophy, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada M3J 1P3
| | - Simon Fitzpatrick
- Department of Philosophy, John Carroll University, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Evan Westra
- Department of Philosophy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
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2
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Engelhardt SC, Weladji RB, Holand Ø, Røed KH, Nieminen M. Evidence suggesting that reindeer mothers allonurse according to the direct reciprocity and generalized reciprocity decision rules. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0295497. [PMID: 38096314 PMCID: PMC10721201 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0295497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2022] [Accepted: 11/23/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Allonursing is the nursing of the offspring of other mothers. Cooperation is an emergent property of evolved decision rules. Cooperation can be explained by at least three evolved decision rules: 1) direct reciprocity, i.e. help someone who previously helped you, 2) kin discrimination, i.e. preferentially direct help to kin than to non-kin, and 3) generalized reciprocity, i.e. help anyone if helped by someone. We assessed if semi-domesticated reindeer, Rangifer tarandus, mothers allonursed according to the decision rules of direct reciprocity, generalized reciprocity and kin discrimination over 2 years. To assess if reindeer mothers allonursed according to the direct reciprocity decision rule, we predicted that mothers should give more help to those who previously helped them more often. To assess if reindeer mothers allonursed according to the kin discrimination decision rule, we predicted that help given should increase as pairwise genetic relatedness increased. To assess if reindeer mothers allonursed according to the generalized reciprocity decision rule, we predicted that the overall number of help given by reindeer mothers should increase as the overall number of help received by reindeer mothers increased. The number of help given i) increased as the number of help received from the same partner increased in the 2012 group but not in both 2013 groups, ii) was not influenced by relatedness, and iii) was not influenced by an interaction between the number of help received from the same partner and relatedness. iv) The overall number of help given increased as the overall number of help received increased. The results did not support the prediction that reindeer mothers allonursed according to the kin discrimination decision rule. The results suggest that reindeer mothers may allonurse according to the direct reciprocity and generalized reciprocity decision rules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sacha C. Engelhardt
- Department of Sociobiology/Anthropology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology und Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany
- Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Department of Biology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Hinterkappelen, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Robert B. Weladji
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Øystein Holand
- Department of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Viken, Norway
| | - Knut H. Røed
- Department of Preclinical Sciences and Pathology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Mauri Nieminen
- Natural Resources Institute Finland Luke, Reindeer Research Station, Kaamanen, Lapland, Finland
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Enghelhardt SC, Paulsson NI, Taborsky M. Assessment of help value affects reciprocation in Norway rats. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:231253. [PMID: 37885980 PMCID: PMC10598426 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.231253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 10/03/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023]
Abstract
Wild-type Norway rats reciprocate help received in a well-replicated experimental food-giving task, but the criteria to appraise the received help's value are unclear. We tested whether quality or quantity of received help is more important when deciding to return help, and whether partner familiarity and own current need affect this evaluation. We experimentally varied recipients of help's hunger state, and familiar or unfamiliar partners provided either higher caloric food (enhanced quantity; carrots) or food higher in protein and fat (enhanced quality; cheese). Reciprocation of received help was our criterion for the rats' value assessment. Familiarity, food type and hunger state interacted and affected help returned by rats. Rats returned less help to familiar partners than to unfamiliar partners. With unfamiliar partners, rats returned more help to partners that had donated preferred food (cheese) than to partners that had donated less preferred food (carrots), and they returned help earlier if they were satiated and had received cheese. With familiar partners, food-deprived rats that had received cheese returned more help than satiated rats that had received carrots. Our results suggest that Norway rats assess the received help's value based on its quality, their current need and partner familiarity before reciprocating received help.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sacha C. Enghelhardt
- Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Wohlenstrasse 50a, 3032 Hinterkappelen, Switzerland
- Department of Sociobiology/Anthropology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Kellnerweg 6, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
- Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Niklas I. Paulsson
- Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Wohlenstrasse 50a, 3032 Hinterkappelen, Switzerland
| | - Michael Taborsky
- Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Wohlenstrasse 50a, 3032 Hinterkappelen, Switzerland
- Department of Collective Behavior, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, 78467 Konstanz, Germany
- Institute for Advanced Study (Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin), 14193 Berlin, Germany
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Brosnan SF, Wilson BJ. Comparative economics: how studying other primates helps us better understand the evolution of our own economic decision making. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20210497. [PMID: 36934757 PMCID: PMC10024989 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2022] [Accepted: 10/13/2022] [Indexed: 03/21/2023] Open
Abstract
The origins of evolutionary games are rooted in both economics and animal behaviour, but economics has, until recently, focused primarily on humans. Although historically, specific games were used in targeted circumstances with non-human species (i.e. the Prisoner's Dilemma), experimental economics has been increasingly recognized as a valuable method for directly comparing both the outcomes of economic decisions and their underlying mechanisms across species, particularly in comparison with humans, thanks to the structured procedures that allow for them to be instantiated across a variety of animals. So far, results in non-human primates suggest that even when outcomes are shared, underlying proximate mechanisms can vary substantially. Intriguingly, in some contexts non-human primates more easily find a Nash equilibrium than do humans, possibly owing to their greater willingness to explore the parameter space, but humans excel at more complex outcomes, such as alternating between two Nash equilibria, even when deprived of language or instruction, suggesting potential mechanisms that humans have evolved to allow us to solve complex social problems. We consider what these results suggest about the evolution of economic decision-making and suggest future directions, in particular the need to expand taxonomic diversity, to expand this promising approach. This article is part of the theme issue 'Half a century of evolutionary games: a synthesis of theory, application and future directions'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah F. Brosnan
- Departments of Psychology & Philosophy, Neuroscience Institute, Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, and the Language Research Center, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30302, USA
| | - Bart J. Wilson
- Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy & Economic Science Institute, Chapman University, Orange, CA 92866, USA
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Dolivo V, Engqvist L, Taborsky M. When deciding to cooperate by direct reciprocity, Norway rats sometimes benefit from olfactory competence and seem not impaired by insufficient cognitive abilities. Anim Cogn 2023:10.1007/s10071-023-01754-5. [PMID: 36869235 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-023-01754-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2022] [Revised: 01/25/2023] [Accepted: 02/06/2023] [Indexed: 03/05/2023]
Abstract
Direct reciprocity requires the ability to recognize and memorize social partners, and to remember their previous actions. 'Insufficient cognitive abilities' have been assumed to potentially impair the ability to cooperate by direct reciprocity. Here we compare the propensity of rats to use direct reciprocity with their ability to memorize and recognize sensory cues in a non-social task. Female rats enriched in one of three sensory modalities (visual, olfactory or auditory) performed better in a learning task when they were tested with the specific sensory modality in which they have been enriched. For the cooperation test, during three subsequent reciprocity experiments the rats could provide two partners differing in their previous helpfulness with food. Individuals performing better in the non-social learning task that involved olfactory cues applied direct reciprocity more successfully in one experiment. However, in the experiment preventing visual cues and physical contact, rats applied direct reciprocity rules irrespective of their performance in the learning task with olfactory cues. This indicates that an enhanced olfactory recognition ability, despite being beneficial, is not a prerequisite for the rats' ability to cooperate by direct reciprocity. This might suggest that when rats have all types of information about their social partner, individuals may apply other criteria than the reciprocity decision rule when determining how much help to provide, as for instance coercion. Interestingly, when all individuals are constrained to mostly rely on olfactory memory, individuals apply direct reciprocity independently of their ability to memorize olfactory cues in a non-social context. 'Insufficient cognitive abilities' may thus not be the true reason when direct reciprocity is not observed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vassilissa Dolivo
- Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Leif Engqvist
- Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Michael Taborsky
- Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.,Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany.,Institute for Advanced Study, (Wissenschaftskolleg), Berlin, Germany
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Food-exchanging Norway rats apply the direct reciprocity decision rule rather than copying by imitation. Anim Behav 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.09.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Zhang Y, Zhang Z, Zhao L, Tao Y, Li Z. Azure-winged Magpies would rather avoid losses than strive for benefits based on reciprocal altruism. Anim Cogn 2022; 25:1579-1588. [PMID: 35713817 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-022-01642-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2022] [Revised: 05/12/2022] [Accepted: 05/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Abstract
It is no doubt that the reciprocal altruism of humans is unparalleled in the animal world. However, how strong altruistic behavior in the non-human animal is still very controversial. Almost all previous researches allowed only one individual in the dyad for action or dyad to accomplish tasks and obtain rewards simultaneously. Here, we designed current study based on the prisoner's dilemma to investigate reciprocal altruism under interactions of Azure-winged Magpies (Cyanopica cyanus), which is direct reciprocity of allowing subjects obtain rewards, respectively. The results suggest that Azure-winged Magpies failed to show continuously altruistic behavior due to the empiricism that stemmed from interactions, that is, avoiding losses. Meanwhile, the resource exchange game paradigm, which is designed in our study, is worthwhile to study the evolution of cooperation in more species in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yigui Zhang
- Lab of Animal Behavior and Conservation, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China.,Lab of Animal Behavior and Cognition, Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China
| | - Ziye Zhang
- Lab of Animal Behavior and Conservation, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China
| | - Lingling Zhao
- Lab of Animal Behavior and Cognition, Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China
| | - Yi Tao
- Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100083, China
| | - Zhongqiu Li
- Lab of Animal Behavior and Conservation, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China. .,Lab of Animal Behavior and Cognition, Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China.
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Paulsson NI, Taborsky M. Reaching Out for Inaccessible Food Is a Potential Begging Signal in Cooperating Wild-Type Norway Rats, Rattus norvegicus. Front Psychol 2021; 12:712333. [PMID: 34526936 PMCID: PMC8435742 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.712333] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2021] [Accepted: 07/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Begging is widespread in juvenile animals. It typically induces helpful behaviours in parents and brood care helpers. However, begging is sometimes also shown by adults towards unrelated social partners. Adult Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) display a sequence of different behaviours in a reciprocal food provisioning task that have been interpreted as such signals of need. The first behaviour in this sequence represents reaching out for a food item the animal cannot obtain independently. This may reflect either an attempt to grasp the food object by itself, or a signal to the social partner communicating the need for help. To distinguish between these two possibilities, we tested in female wild-type Norway rats if the amount of reaching performed by a food-deprived rat changes with the presence/absence of food and a social partner. Focal rats displayed significantly more reaching behaviour, both in terms of number and total duration of events, when food and a potentially helpful partner were present compared to when either was missing. Our findings hence support the hypothesis that rats use reaching behaviour to signal need to social partners that can help them to obtain food.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niklas I Paulsson
- Division of Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Michael Taborsky
- Division of Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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Taborsky B. The Evolution of Social Behaviour. Ethology 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.13212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Taborsky
- Behavioural Ecology Division Institute of Ecology and Evolution University of Bern Bern Switzerland
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Lorenzi MC, Schleicherová D, Robles-Guerrero FG, Dumas M, Araguas A. Egg-trading worms start reciprocation with caution, respond with confidence and care about partners' quality. Sci Rep 2021; 11:10552. [PMID: 34006950 PMCID: PMC8131627 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-89979-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2020] [Accepted: 04/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Conditional reciprocity (help someone who helped you before) explains the evolution of cooperation among unrelated individuals who take turns helping each other. Reciprocity is vulnerable to exploitations, and players are expected to identify uncooperative partners who do not return the help they received. We tested this prediction in the simultaneously hermaphroditic worm, Ophryotrocha diadema, which engages in mutual egg donations by alternating sexual roles (one worm releases' eggs and the other fertilizes them). We set up dyads with different cooperativeness expectations; partners were either the same or a different body size (body size predicts clutch size). Large worms offered larger clutches and did so sooner when paired with large rather than small partners. They also released smaller egg clutches when they started egg donations than when they responded to a partners' donation, fulfilling the prediction that a players' first move will be prudent. Finally, behavioral bodily interactions were more frequent between more size-dissimilar worms, suggesting that worms engaged in low-cost behavioral exchanges before investing in such costly moves as egg donations. These results support the hypothesis that simultaneously hermaphroditic worms follow a conditional reciprocity paradigm and solve the conflict over sexual roles by sharing the costs of reproduction via the male and the female functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Cristina Lorenzi
- Laboratoire d'Ethologie Expérimentale et Comparée, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, 99 Avenue J.-B. Clément, 93430, Villetaneuse, France.
| | - Dáša Schleicherová
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e Biologia dei Sistemi, Università di Torino, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123, Torino, Italy
| | - Franco G Robles-Guerrero
- Laboratoire d'Ethologie Expérimentale et Comparée, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, 99 Avenue J.-B. Clément, 93430, Villetaneuse, France
| | - Michela Dumas
- Laboratoire d'Ethologie Expérimentale et Comparée, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, 99 Avenue J.-B. Clément, 93430, Villetaneuse, France
| | - Alice Araguas
- Laboratoire d'Ethologie Expérimentale et Comparée, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, 99 Avenue J.-B. Clément, 93430, Villetaneuse, France
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