Alle Publikationen
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2014
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(2014): Evidence that accent is a dimension of social categorization, not a byproduct of perceptual salience, familiarity, or ease-of-processing. In: Evolution and Human Behavior 35 (1), S. 43-50. DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2013.09.006
Abstract: Certain features of language, such as accent, are acquired from the local social environment during an acquisition period starting at infancy and ending roughly at puberty. If the scale of social interaction expands after puberty, humans will encounter variance in these linguistic features, and the linguistic similarity between people will indicate the degree to which they share a common early social history. There is reason to believe that such a dynamic is not a modern phenomenon, but has likely occurred throughout our species' evolutionary history since the advent of language. Consequently, the human mind may contain systems for categorizing others according to their linguistic repertoires, including their accents. Four studies demonstrate that (i) accent differences-both native versus non-native accents and also two different non-native accents, are the basis of spontaneous and implicit social categorization, and (ii) this is not driven by general acoustic-differences, low level sound differences, or differences in familiarity or ease-of-processing. Results are consistent with the hypothesis that human mind contains systems for categorizing others according to their accents.
2009
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(2009): The age of empathy. Nature's lessons for a kinder society. 1. paperback ed.. New York NY: Three Rivers Press
Abstract: Are we our brothers' keepers? Do we have an instinct for compassion? Or are we, as is often assumed, only on earth to serve our own survival and interests? In this thought-provoking book, the acclaimed author of Our Inner Ape examines how empathy comes naturally to a great variety of animals, including humans. By studying social behaviors in animals, such as bonding, the herd instinct, the forming of trusting alliances, expressions of consolation, and conflict resolution, Frans de Waal demonstrates that animals–and humans–are "preprogrammed to reach out." He has found that chimpanzees care for mates that are wounded by leopards, elephants offer "reassuring rumbles" to youngsters in distress, and dolphins support sick companions near the water's surface to prevent them from drowning. From day one humans have innate sensitivities to faces, bodies, and voices; we've been designed to feel for one another. De Waal's theory runs counter to the assumption that humans are inherently selfish, which can be seen in the fields of politics, law, and finance, and whichseems to be evidenced by the current greed-driven stock market collapse. But he cites the public's outrage at the U.S. government's lack of empathy in the wake of Hurricane Katrina as a significant shift in perspective–one that helped Barack Obama become elected and ushered in what may well become an Age of Empathy. Through a better understanding of empathy's survival value in evolution, de Waal suggests, we can work together toward a more just society based on a more generous and accurate view of human nature. Written in layman's prose with a wealth of anecdotes, wry humor, and incisive intelligence, The Age of Empathy is essential reading for our embattled times.
2005
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(2005): Evolution of indirect reciprocity. In: Nature 437 (7063), S. 1291-1298. DOI: 10.1038/nature04131
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16251955 Abstract: Natural selection is conventionally assumed to favour the strong and selfish who maximize their own resources at the expense of others. But many biological systems, and especially human societies, are organized around altruistic, cooperative interactions. How can natural selection promote unselfish behaviour? Various mechanisms have been proposed, and a rich analysis of indirect reciprocity has recently emerged: I help you and somebody else helps me. The evolution of cooperation by indirect reciprocity leads to reputation building, morality judgement and complex social interactions with ever-increasing cognitive demands.
Keywords: Altruism, Biological Evolution, Biologie, Cooperative Behavior, Evolutionsbiologie, Genese von Normen, Good manners, Humans, Indirekte Reziprozität, Kooperation, Models, Biological, Morals, Natur & Genese von Normen, Normen, Observablen/Kriterien für sozial angemessenes Verhalten und dessen Bewertung, Reziprozität, Soziale Angemessenheit, Trust, Voraussetzungen für sozial angemessenes Verhalten 2004
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(2004): Why be nice? Psychological constraints on the evolution of cooperation. In: Trends in cognitive sciences 8 (2), S. 60-65. DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2003.12.003
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/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.
Keywords: Altruism, Animals, Biologie, Cooperative Behavior, Evolutionsbiologie, Game Theory, Genese, Good manners, Höflichkeit, Humans, Interaktion, Kooperation, Natur & Genese von Normen, Normen, Observablen/Kriterien für sozial angemessenes Verhalten und dessen Bewertung, Problem Solving, reziproker Altruismus, Reziprozität, Social Behavior, Soziale Angemessenheit, Voraussetzungen für sozial angemessenes Verhalten 2000
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(2000): Strong reciprocity and human sociality. In: Journal of theoretical biology 206 (2), S. 169-179. DOI: 10.1006/jtbi.2000.2111
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10966755 Abstract: Human groups maintain a high level of sociality despite a low level of relatedness among group members. This paper reviews the evidence for an empirically identifiable form of prosocial behavior in humans, which we call "strong reciprocity", that may in part explain human sociality. A strong reciprocator is predisposed to cooperate with others and punish non-cooperators, even when this behavior cannot be justified in terms of extended kinship or reciprocal altruism. We present a simple model, stylized but plausible, of the evolutionary emergence of strong reciprocity.
Keywords: Altruism, Biological Evolution, Cooperative Behavior, Evolutionsbiologie, Favoriten, Good manners, Humans, Interaktion, Kooperation, Models, Biological, Observablen/Kriterien für sozial angemessenes Verhalten und dessen Bewertung, Reziprozität, Soziale Angemessenheit, Starke Reziprozität, Strong reciprocity model 1998
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(1998): Evolution of indirect reciprocity by image scoring. In: Nature 393 (6685), S. 573-577. DOI: 10.1038/31225
DOI: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9634232 Abstract: Darwinian evolution has to provide an explanation for cooperative behaviour. Theories of cooperation are based on kin selection (dependent on genetic relatedness), group selection and reciprocal altruism. The idea of reciprocal altruism usually involves direct reciprocity: repeated encounters between the same individuals allow for the return of an altruistic act by the recipient. Here we present a new theoretical framework, which is based on indirect reciprocity and does not require the same two individuals ever to meet again. Individual selection can nevertheless favour cooperative strategies directed towards recipients that have helped others in the past. Cooperation pays because it confers the image of a valuable community member to the cooperating individual. We present computer simulations and analytic models that specify the conditions required for evolutionary stability of indirect reciprocity. We show that the probability of knowing the 'image' of the recipient must exceed the cost-to-benefit ratio of the altruistic act. We propose that the emergence of indirect reciprocity was a decisive step for the evolution of human societies.
Keywords: Altruism, Biological Evolution, Computer Simulation, Cooperative Behavior, Evolutionsbiologie, Good manners, Helping Behavior, Humans, Indirect reciprocity model, Indirekte Reziprozität, Interaktion, Kooperation, Mutation, Reziprozität, Selection, Genetic, Soziale Angemessenheit, Spieltheorie 1993
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(1993): The emotional origins of social understanding. In: Philosophical Psychology 6 (3), S. 227-249. DOI: 10.1080/09515089308573090
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the origins of social understanding. Drawing upon philosophical writings, I highlight those features of affectively patterned interpersonal relations that are especially important for a very young child's growing awareness and knowledge of itself and other people as people with their own minds. If we were without our biologically based capacities for co‐ordinated emotional relatedness with others, we should lack something essential for acquiring the concept of ‘persons’ who have subjective experiences and psychological attitudes towards the world. I illustrate some implications of this thesis by reviewing the phenomena of early childhood autism.
Keywords: Autismus, Entwicklungspsychologie, Evolutionsbiologie, Herkunft von Sozialität, Interpersonale Wahrnehmung, Kognitionswissenschaft/Social Sciences/Humanities, Menschsein als Voraussetznug für soziale Angemessenheit?, Pathologie, Person Sein, Philosophical Psychology, Soziales Miteinander, soziales Verhalten, Sozialphilosophie, Spezifika von Menschen, Verstehen 1981
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(1981): The evolution of cooperation. In: Science 211 (4489), S. 1390-1396. DOI: 10.1126/science.7466396
Abstract: Cooperation in organisms, whether bacteria or primates, has been a difficulty for evolutionary theory since Darwin. On the assumption that interactions between pairs of individuals occur on a probabilistic basis, a model is developed based on the concept of an evolutionarily stable strategy in the context of the Prisoner's Dilemma game. Deductions from the model, and the results of a computer tournament show how cooperation based on reciprocity can get started in an asocial world, can thrive while interacting with a wide range of other strategies, and can resist invasion once fully established. Potential applications include specific aspects of territoriality, mating, and disease.
1872
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(1872): The expression of the emotions in man and animals
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