Reciprocal Altruism and Evolutionary Psychology

Drawing of a hungry vampire bat (right) solicits food from a potential donor, first by grooming around the stomach area (c) and then licking the donor's face (d). The donor bat then responds by regurgitating blood (e) if receptive. (Wilkinson 1990)

Altruistic acts among non relatives can be understood by reciprocal altruism. As we discussed in class we would expect reciprocal altruism to be limited to species that show long term associations and are "smart" emough to be able to recognize individuals and remember who owes them and who does not.

Examples of Past Test Questions (answers at the bottom of this post)

1. It is not uncommon for college students to share items such as shampoo with their roommates. Which of the following hypothesis best explains this behavior?
(a) group selection
(b) kin selection
(c) reciprocal altruism
(d) selfish behavior
(e) altruistic behavior

2. Which of the following terms apply to a roommate who borrows your shampoo when she/he has run out, but will not allow you to borrow their shampoo when you need it?
(a) altruistic
(b) mutualist
(c) cheater
(d) a and c
(e) b and c

Further Readings

Reciprocal Altruism http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/mammals/explore/altruism.shtml

If you are interested in learning more about Evolutionary Psychology here is a link to a bunch of Frequently asked questions. Some of this goes into way more detail than we need to be worried about for this class.
FAQ Evolutionary Psychology http://www.anth.ucsb.edu/projects/human/evpsychfaq.html

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course a fully engaged student should be able to

- define reciprocal altruism
- discuss the conditions under which altruistic acts can be explained by reciprocal altruism
- examine an example of an altruistic behavior and determine whether reciprocal altruism is the best explanation
- explain how participants benefit by being involved in reciprodal altruism in real world examples (e.g, vampire bats)
- define a cheater in a reciprocal altruism system and discuss (a) why cheating is a problem in the system and (b) what organisms can do to reduce cheating
- discuss Trivers' ideas about how human psychology has been influenced by reciprocal altruism (be able to provide your opinion about Trivers' ideas and be able to back up your opinions)


Answers 1. c even though this is an example of altruistic behavior, the best explanation for this behavior is reciprocal altruism) 2. c