Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3280, USA.
Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc. 2013 Feb;88(1):179-95. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-185X.2012.00246.x. Epub 2012 Sep 14.
Recognition of conspecifics occurs when individuals classify sets of conspecifics based on sensory input from them and associate these sets with different responses. Classification of conspecifics can vary in specificity (the number of individuals included in a set) and multiplicity (the number of sets differentiated). In other words, the information transmitted varies in complexity. Although recognition of conspecifics has been reported in a wide variety of organisms, few reports have addressed the specificity or multiplicity of this capability. This review discusses examples of these patterns, the mechanisms that can produce them, and the evolution of these mechanisms. Individual recognition is one end of a spectrum of specificity, and binary classification of conspecifics is one end of a spectrum of multiplicity. In some cases, recognition requires no more than simple forms of learning, such as habituation, yet results in individually specific recognition. In other cases, recognition of individuals involves complex associations of multiple cues with multiple previous experiences in particular contexts. Complex mechanisms for recognition are expected to evolve only when simpler mechanisms do not provide sufficient specificity and multiplicity to obtain the available advantages. In particular, the evolution of cooperation and deception is always promoted by specificity and multiplicity in recognition. Nevertheless, there is only one demonstration that recognition of specific individuals contributes to cooperation in animals other than primates. Human capacities for individual recognition probably have a central role in the evolution of complex forms of human cooperation and deception. Although relatively little studied, this capability probably rivals cognitive abilities for language.
当个体根据来自同种个体的感官输入对同种个体的集合进行分类，并将这些集合与不同的反应联系起来时，就会发生同种个体的识别。同种个体的分类在特异性（包含的个体数量）和多重性（区分的集合数量）上可能有所不同。换句话说，传递的信息在复杂性上有所不同。尽管在多种生物中都有报道同种个体的识别，但很少有报道涉及这种能力的特异性或多重性。这篇综述讨论了这些模式的例子、可以产生这些模式的机制以及这些机制的进化。个体识别是特异性的一个极端，而同种个体的二元分类是多重性的一个极端。在某些情况下，识别只需要简单的学习形式，如习惯化，但会导致个体特异性的识别。在其他情况下，对个体的识别涉及到多个线索与特定背景下的多个先前经验的复杂关联。只有在简单机制不能提供足够的特异性和多重性来获得可用优势时，才有望进化出复杂的识别机制。特别是，特异性和多重性总是促进合作和欺骗的进化。然而，只有一个例子表明，对特定个体的识别有助于除灵长类动物以外的动物的合作。人类对个体的识别能力可能在人类复杂形式的合作和欺骗的进化中起着核心作用。尽管这方面的研究相对较少，但这种能力可能与语言认知能力相媲美。
