为什么要友善？合作进化中的心理限制因素。

Why be nice? Psychological constraints on the evolution of cooperation.

作者信息

Stevens Jeffrey R, Hauser Marc D

机构信息

Department of Psychology and Primate Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

出版信息

Trends Cogn Sci. 2004 Feb;8(2):60-5. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2003.12.003.

DOI:10.1016/j.tics.2003.12.003

PMID:15588809

Abstract

Animals often aid others without gaining any immediate benefits. Although these acts seem to reduce the donor's fitness, they are only apparently altruistic. Donors typically help because they or their kin receive future benefits or avoid costly punishment. Reciprocal altruism--alternating the roles of donor and recipient--has been a well-studied form of cooperation among non-kin because of its intuitive appeal in explaining human cooperation. Despite immense theoretical interest, little empirical evidence substantiates the biological importance of reciprocal altruism in non-human animals. We propose that this is because psychological mechanisms constrain its application in cooperative contexts. In particular, we contend that cognitive limitations such as temporal discounting, numerical discrimination and memory make reciprocity difficult for animals.

摘要

动物常常会帮助其他个体，却没有获得任何直接的好处。尽管这些行为看似会降低施予者的适合度，但它们只是表面上的利他行为。施予者通常提供帮助是因为它们自己或其亲属会在未来获得好处，或者避免受到代价高昂的惩罚。互惠利他行为——即施予者和受惠者角色交替——由于在解释人类合作方面具有直观吸引力，一直是在非亲属动物之间得到充分研究的一种合作形式。尽管理论上对此兴趣浓厚，但很少有实证证据能证实互惠利他行为在非人类动物中的生物学重要性。我们认为这是因为心理机制限制了它在合作情境中的应用。具体而言，我们认为诸如时间折扣、数字辨别和记忆等认知局限使得动物难以进行互惠行为。