Chapter 11 – Prosocial behavior

- Reproductive: the contribution to the gene pool that is made by an individual

- Inclusive fitness: a measure of an individual’s fitness that takes into account his of her own offspring of relative

Game theory: the study of cooperation among individual using simulations of interactions

Prisoner’s dilemma: 2 actors who are given 2 choices to be made simultaneously (neither person knows what the other will do)

Temptation to betray > Reward for cooperation > Punishment to betray > Suckers bet

- “Tit-for-tat”: Cooperate until you are betrayed, then betray until they cooperate again

Punishment and “the ultimatum game”: one player can give any amount of cash they’ve been given to another player and that other player can either reject or take the money. If they reject, neither player gets money. Makes more sense to always accept but people typically reject offers below 20% of proposer’s income

Green-beard gene: a gene that codes for mechanisms that ultimately allow organisms to ‘recognize’ a fellow carrier of certain genes

Helping and cooperative breeding: situations in which individuals who are not parents are actively engaged in raising other’s offspring

Inter-specific mutualism: two different species are benefitting from an interaction

Food sharing: cooperative breeders are more likely to share food

- Dictator games: same as ultimatum game but players are not allowed to reject offer, typically proposers allocate 20-30% of their cash to the other player

- Inequity aversion: a negative reaction to situations in which there is ‘unequal pay for equal work

Distress calls: vocalizations emitted by many young mammals when separated from their nest/mothers

Consolation: when bystanders approach to groom or embrace a victim of aggression,

Concern

- Empathy: the ability to understand the feelings of others

- Sympathy: feelings of concern for others stemming from empathy

- Emotional contagion: matching another’s individual’s emotional state

- Sympathetic concern: de Waal’s second level of empathy in which emotional contagion is combined with appraisal of the current context as well as attempts to understand the underlying cause of the other’s distress

- Empathetic perspective-taking: de Waal’s third level of empathy in which an individual understands others’ needs and experiences vicarious emotional arousal

Tragedy of commons: a term referring to situation in which the outcome of the cooperation is publicity available in the sense that individuals who did not take part in the cooperative activities can access the benefits

Oxytocin and prosocial behavior: hormone that regulation what regulates maternal behaviors, relevant to kin directed prosocial behavior. Also contributes to sharing with strangers in humans, makes us treat strangers like kin