Ultimate and proximate mechanisms of reciprocal altruism in rats

Dolivo Beuret, Vassilissa; Rutte, Claudia; Taborsky, Michael (2016). Ultimate and proximate mechanisms of reciprocal altruism in rats. Learning & Behavior, 44(3), pp. 223-226. Springer 10.3758/s13420-016-0236-z

Preview

Text Dolivo_LearnBehav2016.pdf - Published Version Available under License Publisher holds Copyright. Download (229kB) | Preview

The reciprocal exchange of goods and services among social partners is a conundrum in evolutionary biology because of its proneness to cheating, but also the behavioral and cognitive mechanisms involved in such mutual cooperation are hotly debated. Extreme viewpoints range from the assumption that, at the proximate level, observed cases of "direct reciprocity" can be merely explained by basic instrumental and Pavlovian association processes, to the other extreme implying that "cultural factors" must be involved, as is often attributed to reciprocal cooperation among humans. Here we argue that neither one nor the other extreme conception is likely to explain proximate mechanisms underlying reciprocal altruism in animals. In particular, we outline that Pavlovian association processes are not sufficient to explain the documented reciprocal cooperation among Norway rats, as has been recently argued.

Interest & Impact

Downloads

37 since deposited on 21 Jun 2017
20 in the past 12 months

Citations

5 Citations in Web of Science ®
6 Citations in Scopus

Search

in Google Scholar™

Services

Actions (login required)

Edit item

Actions (login required)

Edit item