Driscoll Catherine
Department of Philosophy, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8103, USA.
Stud Hist Philos Biol Biomed Sci. 2009 Jun;40(2):133-41. doi: 10.1016/j.shpsc.2009.03.005. Epub 2009 Apr 28.
This paper discusses problems associated with the use of optimality models in human behavioral ecology. Optimality models are used in both human and non-human animal behavioral ecology to test hypotheses about the conditions generating and maintaining behavioral strategies in populations via natural selection. The way optimality models are currently used in behavioral ecology faces significant problems, which are exacerbated by employing the so-called 'phenotypic gambit': that is, the bet that the psychological and inheritance mechanisms responsible for behavioral strategies will be straightforward. I argue that each of several different possible ways we might interpret how optimality models are being used for humans face similar and additional problems. I suggest some ways in which human behavioral ecologists might adjust how they employ optimality models; in particular, I urge the abandonment of the phenotypic gambit in the human case.
本文讨论了人类行为生态学中与最优性模型使用相关的问题。最优性模型在人类和非人类动物行为生态学中都被用于检验关于通过自然选择在种群中产生和维持行为策略的条件的假设。行为生态学中目前使用最优性模型的方式面临重大问题，而采用所谓的“表型策略”会使这些问题更加严重：也就是说，认为负责行为策略的心理和遗传机制会很简单的这种假设。我认为，我们可能解释最优性模型如何用于人类的几种不同可能方式中的每一种都面临类似的和其他的问题。我提出了一些人类行为生态学家可能调整他们使用最优性模型方式的方法；特别是，我敦促在人类案例中摒弃表型策略。
