Via freedom to coercion: the emergence of costly punishment

In human societies, cooperative behavior in joint enterprises is often enforced through institutions that impose sanctions on defectors. Many experiments on so-called public goods games have shown that in the absence of such institutions, individuals are willing to punish defectors, even at a cost to themselves. Theoretical models confirm that social norms prescribing the punishment of uncooperative behavior are stable-once established, they prevent dissident minorities from spreading. But how can such costly punishing behavior gain a foothold in the population? A surprisingly simple model shows that if individuals have the option to stand aside and abstain from the joint endeavor, this paves the way for the emergence and establishment of cooperative behavior based on the punishment of defectors. Paradoxically, the freedom to withdraw from the common enterprise leads to enforcement of social norms. Joint enterprises that are compulsory rather than voluntary are less likely to lead to cooperation.     

The evolutionary origin of cooperators and defectors

Coexistence of cooperators and defectors is common in nature, yet the evolutionary origin of such social diversification is unclear. Many models have been studied on the basis of the assumption that benefits of cooperative acts only accrue to others. Here, we analyze the continuous snowdrift game, in which cooperative investments are costly but yield benefits to others as well as to the cooperator. Adaptive dynamics of investment levels often result in evolutionary diversification from initially uniform populations to a stable state in which cooperators making large investments coexist with defectors who invest very little. Thus, when individuals benefit from their own actions, large asymmetries in cooperative investments can evolve.     

The neural basis of altruistic punishment

Many people voluntarily incur costs to punish violations of social norms. Evolutionary models and empirical evidence indicate that such altruistic punishment has been a decisive force in the evolution of human cooperation. We used H2 15O positron emission tomography to examine the neural basis for altruistic punishment of defectors in an economic exchange. Subjects could punish defection either symbolically or effectively. Symbolic punishment did not reduce the defector's economic payoff, whereas effective punishment did reduce the payoff. We scanned the subjects' brains while they learned about the defector's abuse of trust and determined the punishment. Effective punishment, as compared with symbolic punishment, activated the dorsal striatum, which has been implicated in the processing of rewards that accrue as a result of goal-directed actions. Moreover, subjects with stronger activations in the dorsal striatum were willing to incur greater costs in order to punish. Our findings support the hypothesis that people derive satisfaction from punishing norm violations and that the activation in the dorsal striatum reflects the anticipated satisfaction from punishing defectors.     

Cuckoos combat socially transmitted defenses of reed warbler hosts with a plumage polymorphism

In predator-prey and host-parasite interactions, an individual's ability to combat an opponent often improves with experience--for example, by learning to identify enemy signals. Although learning occurs through individual experience, individuals can also assess threats from social information. Such recognition could promote the evolution of polymorphisms if socially transmitted defenses depend on enemy morph frequency. This would allow rare variants to evade detection. Female brood parasitic common cuckoos, Cuculus canorus, are either gray or rufous. The gray morph is a Batesian mimic whose hawk-like appearance deters host attack. Hosts reject this disguise through social learning, increasing their own defenses when they witness neighbors mobbing a cuckoo. Our experiments reveal that social learning is specific to the cuckoo morph that neighbors mob. Therefore, while neighbors alert hosts to local cuckoo activity, frequency-dependent social information selects for a cuckoo plumage polymorphism to thwart host detection. Our results suggest that selection for mimicry and polymorphisms comes not only from personal experience but also from social learning.     

Patterns of participation in farmers’ research groups: Lessons from the highlands of southwestern Uganda

There is increasing interest in farmers’ organizations as an effective approach to farmer participatory research (FPR). Using data from an empirical study of farmers’ research groups (FRGs) in Uganda, this paper examines the patterns of participation in groups and answers questions such as: Who participates? What types of participation? How does participation occur? What are the factors determining participation? Results show that there is no single type of participation, but rather that FPR is a dynamic process with types of participation varying at different stages of the process. Farmers’ participation does not follow the normal adoption curve. Rather, it is characterized by high participation at the initial stages, followed by dramatic decrease and dropping-out, and slow increases toward the end. There is usually significantly higher participation among male farmers at the beginning of the process. However, as FRGs evolve, the proportion of men decreases sharply while the relative proportion of women continues to increase until it dominates the group. The findings do not support the common assumption that groups usually exclude women and the poor. On the contrary, we argue that FRGs are an effective mechanism to provide women and the poor with opportunities to participate in research. However, to be effective, this requires moving beyond head counting to promote more proactive gender and equity perspectives for amplifying the benefits of agricultural research to those who tend to be marginalized or excluded by mainstream development initiatives. This will be critical for making agricultural research more client-oriented and demand-driven.     

Gender and property rights in the commons: Examples of water rights in South Asia

In many countries and resource sectors, the state is devolving responsibility for natural resource management responsibility to ``communities' or local user groups. However, both policymakers and researchers in this area have tended to ignore the implications of gender and other forms of intra-community power differences for the effectiveness and equity of natural resource management. In the irrigation sector, despite the rhetoric on women's participation, a review of evidence from South Asia shows that organizations often exclude women through formal or informal membership rules and practices. Women may have other ways to obtain irrigation services, but even if they are effective, these other informal ways of obtaining irrigation services are typically less secure. As resource management – and rights to resources – are transferred from the state to local organizations, ensuring women's participation is essential for gender equity in control over resources. Greater involvement of women can also strengthen the effectiveness of local organizations by improving women's compliance with rules and maintenance contributions. Further detailed and comparative research is required to identify the major factors that affect women's participation and control over resources, if devolution policies are to be both equitable and sustainable. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The coevolution of cultural groups and ingroup favoritism

Cultural boundaries have often been the basis for discrimination, nationalism, religious wars, and genocide. Little is known, however, about how cultural groups form or the evolutionary forces behind group affiliation and ingroup favoritism. Hence, we examine these forces experimentally and show that arbitrary symbolic markers, though initially meaningless, evolve to play a key role in cultural group formation and ingroup favoritism because they enable a population of heterogeneous individuals to solve important coordination problems. This process requires that individuals differ in some critical but unobservable way and that their markers be freely and flexibly chosen. If these conditions are met, markers become accurate predictors of behavior. The resulting social environment includes strong incentives to bias interactions toward others with the same marker, and subjects accordingly show strong ingroup favoritism. When markers do not acquire meaning as accurate predictors of behavior, players show a markedly reduced taste for ingroup favoritism. Our results support the prominent evolutionary hypothesis that cultural processes can reshape the selective pressures facing individuals and so favor the evolution of behavioral traits not previously advantaged.     

Essential role of BDNF in the mesolimbic dopamine pathway in social defeat stress

Mice experiencing repeated aggression develop a long-lasting aversion to social contact, which can be normalized by chronic, but not acute, administration of antidepressant. Using viral-mediated, mesolimbic dopamine pathway-specific knockdown of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), we showed that BDNF is required for the development of this experience-dependent social aversion. Gene profiling in the nucleus accumbens indicates that local knockdown of BDNF obliterates most of the effects of repeated aggression on gene expression within this circuit, with similar effects being produced by chronic treatment with antidepressant. These results establish an essential role for BDNF in mediating long-term neural and behavioral plasticity in response to aversive social experiences.     

Negative frequency-dependent selection of sexually antagonistic alleles in Myodes glareolus

Sexually antagonistic genetic variation, where optimal values of traits are sex-dependent, is known to slow the loss of genetic variance associated with directional selection on fitness-related traits. However, sexual antagonism alone is not sufficient to maintain variation indefinitely. Selection of rare forms within the sexes can help to conserve genotypic diversity. We combined theoretical models and a field experiment with Myodes glareolus to show that negative frequency-dependent selection on male dominance maintains variation in sexually antagonistic alleles. In our experiment, high-dominance male bank voles were found to have low-fecundity sisters, and vice versa. These results show that investigations of sexually antagonistic traits should take into account the effects of social interactions on the interplay between ecology and evolution, and that investigations of genetic variation should not be conducted solely under laboratory conditions.     

Cultural styles of participation in farmers’ discussions of seasonal climate forecasts in Uganda

Climate change is confronting African farmers with growing uncertainties. Advances in seasonal climate predictions offer potential for assisting farmers in dealing with climate risk. Experimental cases of forecast dissemination to African rural communities suggest that participatory approaches can facilitate understanding and use of uncertain climate information. But few of these studies integrate critical reflections on participation that have emerged in the last decade which reveal how participatory approaches can miss social dynamics of power at the community level and in the broader context. Furthermore, neither climate application research nor theoretical critiques of participation fully examine the culturally constructed nature of participation. Drawing on sociolinguistic analysis, in-depth interviews, and ethnographic observation, this paper examines how Ugandan farmers engage in participation in the context of discussions of seasonal climate forecasts. Forecasts were presented to farmers groups whose members were then asked to discuss the forecast among themselves. In doing so, groups sought to develop a common understanding of the forecast and consensual plans for response strategies. Focusing on one particular group meeting as an example, we show how different cultural styles of participation affect the interpretation of the forecast and the formulation of response strategies. Group interaction is shown to be mostly structured around two styles of participation. On the one hand, there is the “Western” style advocated by NGOs and the government, which centers on ensuring that all individuals who are present have opportunities to speak during discussion and to vote on group decisions. On the other hand, a “Kiganda” style of participation emphasizes the importance of affirming ties to a collectivity, respect for social hierarchy, deployment of good manners, and consensus building. The case study illuminates how the performance of different styles of participation is grounded in localized frameworks of language and culture but also draw on political and policy discourses at the national level. Although a cultural high value on consensus may work in favor of prominent members, the availability of multiple styles of participation also enables group members to exercise their agency in positive ways. Attention to the interplay of different styles of participation throws light on the subtle social processes that shape how knowledge is assessed, which sources are trusted, which and whose interpretations prevail, what options are deemed viable, how costs and benefits are calculated, and whose resources are mobilized in the effort to reduce vulnerability to climate risk. These are key questions for an assessment of the role of boundary organizations, such as farmer associations, in the communication and application of climate forecasts in agriculture.     

环境税规制农业面源污染研究——不对称信息和污染者合作共谋的影响

研究了完全信息和不完全信息条件下,污染者存在合作共谋可能性时,环境税规制农业面源污染问题的机制和效应.研究表明,在不完全信息条件下,当污染者之间的合作共谋程度不明确或不能被环境监管者有效观测时,利用环境税规制农业面源污染将受到极大的限制;如果监管机构能够投入很高的成本用于监测农业面源污染排放,从而解决不对称信息问题,那么最优的监管政策对于合作共谋的污染者集体有利,会向合作共谋的集体征收税率较低的环境税,但对不合作共谋的集体中的面源污染个体,则会征收最优但税率很高的环境税.同时,如果引入风险偏好因素,当农业面源污染者厌恶风险时,社会整体福利水平会随着污染者合作共谋指数的提高而提升.     

甘肃省高校数字化校园建设现状及对策

数字化校园建设是网络环境下高等教育适应信息社会的需求,也是实现自身与社会不断发展进化的必然选择。教育信息化作为高校建设的重要组成部分,数字化校园建设是其根本目标。目前,由于思想观念落后、缺乏有效的管理机制使得数字化校园建设无法取得应有的效益,通过对甘肃省11所高校数字化校园建设进行调研,对数字化校园建设的现状进行了分析,并提出具体的对策与建议。     

乡村治理视角下农户社会资本测度与群体差异——以苏北地区为例

科学评估农户社会资本状况与群体差异,以提升农户社会资本水平,发挥社会资本对乡村治理的正向作用,推动实现乡村治理现代化。基于乡村治理的视角,从社会网络、社会信任、社会声望、社会参与和社会规范5个维度构建指标体系,运用CRITIC法确定指标权重测度农户社会资本状况,并采用独立样本t检验、单因素方差分析法分析了不同群体间的差异。结果发现：各维度的权重大小依次为社会规范、社会信任、社会参与、社会声望、社会网络。农户社会资本指数均值为0.608,5个维度得分从高到低依次为社会信任(0.755)>社会参与(0.631)>社会声望(0.620)>社会规范(0.588)>社会网络(0.417)。新老两代农户间社会资本不存在显著差异;不同教育背景农户间的社会资本指数及社会网络、社会参与、社会规范具有显著差异,且均随着家庭成员最高学历的升高呈上升趋势;不同成员身份农户的社会资本指数及社会网络、社会信任、社会声望、社会参与具有显著差异,家庭成员中有村干部、党员、军人（含退伍）的农户的这几个指标均高于普通农户。调研地区农户社会资本状况处于较低水平,加强教育培训、提升政治素养可以提高农户...     

Social insect networks

Social insect colonies have many of the properties of adaptive networks. The simple rules governing how local interactions among individuals translate into group behaviors are found across social groups, giving social insects the potential to have a profound impact on our understanding of the interplay between network dynamics and social evolution.     

社会力量参与公共文化服务建设的创新性动力机制研究

[目的/意义]鼓励和引导社会力量参与是政府提高公共文化服务保障水平的有效途径,提升社会力量参与公共文化服务建设质量,需要完善扶持社会力量发展的动力机制。[方法/过程]阐述社会力量参与公共文化服务建设动力机制的现状、动力机制的涵义与动力要素的类型,分析社会力量参与公共文化服务建设实践案例的先进典型做法。[结果/结论]结合案例分析,提出社会力量参与公共文化服务建设动力机制的优化策略,为推进公共文化服务的政社合作供给提供借鉴。     

广义离差最小的农业可持续发展的综合评判

构建了由社会指标、农业经济指标、资源指标、环境指标4个部分构成的农业可持续发展评价指标体系,在单人参与的农业可持续发展综合评价模型的基础上,建立了广义离差最小的多人参与的农业可持续发展综合评价模型。并进行实例研究,对某区域的农业可持续发展状况进行评价,结果表明,该区域社会指标和农业经济指标的评价得分较高,资源指标一般,而环境指标的评价结果不是很理想,整体的可持续发展综合评价值为0.665 5,评价结果为＂好＂。     

中国农业科普现状及挑战

农业科普不仅是实现农业科技成果有效转化的重要桥梁,更是实现全民农业科学素质提升的关键。研究旨在探索推进中国农业科普面向不同社会群体的现代化发展路径,以期为农业科普发展适应现阶段多元化需求提供可行性建议。主要依据2021年中国科普统计数据,从农业科普人才队伍、传播渠道、基地、经费等角度,通过横向与纵向的科普数据比较,分析当前中国农业科普的现状及问题。总的来说,目前中国农业科普发展整体向好,无论是队伍、渠道和基地都得到了较大发展,但在科普内容供给、趣味性、专用设施以及多元主体参与方面还存在不足。因此,推动中国农业科普发展需要充分优化配置农业科普已有资源,完善新媒体在农业科普方面的运用,实现市场主体的多元投入与农业科普人才的多方参与。     

Heritability analyses of IQ scores: science or numerology?

Estimates of IQ heritability are subject to a variety of systematic errors. The IQ scores themselves contain uncontrollable, systematic errors of unknown magnitude. These arise because IQ scores, unlike conventional physical and biological measurements, have a purely instrumental definition. The effects of these errors are apparent in the very large discrepancies among IQ correlations measured by different investigators. Genotype-environment correlations, whose effects can sometimes be minimized, if not wholly eliminated, in experiments with plants and animals, are nearly always important in human populations. The absence of significant effects arising from genotype-environment correlations is a necessary condition for the applicability of conventional heritability analysis to phenotypically plastic traits. When this condition fails, no quantitative inferences about heritability can be drawn from measured phenotypic variances and covariances, except under special conditions that are unlikely to be satisfied by phenotypically plastic traits in human populations. Inadequate understanding of the precise environmental factors relevant to the development of specific behavioral traits is an important source of systematic errors, as is the inability to allow adequately for the effects of assortative mating and gene-gene interaction. Systematic cultural differences and differences in psychological environment among races and among sociocco-nomic groups vitiate any attempt to draw from IQ data meaningful inferences about genetic differences. Estimates based on phenotypic correlations between separated monozygotic twins-usually considered to be the most reliable kind of estimates-are vitiated by systematic errors inherent in IQ tests, by the presence of genotype-environment correlation, and by the lack of detailed understanding of environmental factors relevant to the development of behavioral traits. Other kinds of estimates are beset, in addition, by systematic errors arising from incomplete allowance for the effects of assortative mating and from gene-gene interactions. The only potentially useful data are phenotypic correlations between unrelated foster children reared together, which could, in principle, yield lower limits for e(2). Available data indicate that, for unrelated foster children reared together, the broad heritability (h(2)) may lie between 0.0 and 0.5. This estimate does not apply to populations composed of children reared by their biological parents or by near relatives. For such populations the heritability of IQ remains undefined. The only data that might yield meaningful estimates ot narrow heritability are phenotypic correlations between half-sibs reared in statistically independent environments. No useful data of this kind are available. Intervention studies like Heber's Milwaukee Project afford an alternative and comparatively direct way of studying the plasticity of cognitive and other behavioral traits in human populations. Results obtained so far strongly suggest that the development of cognitive skills is highly sensitive to variations in environmental factors. These conclusions have three obvious implications for the broader issues mentioned at the beginning of this article. 1) Published analyses of IQ data provide no support whatever for Jensen's thesis that inequalities in cognitive performance are due largely to genetic differences. As Lewontin (8) has clearly shown, the value of the broad heritability of IQ is in any case only marginally relevant to this question. I have argued that conventional estimates of the broad heritability of IQ are invalid and that the only data on which potentially valid estimates might be based are consistent with a broad heritability of less than 0.5. On the other hand, intervention studies, if their findings prove to be replicable, would directly establish that, under suitable conditions, the offspring of parents whose cognitive skills are so poorly developed as to exclude them from all but the most menial occupations can achieve what are regarded as distinctly high levels of cognitive performance. Thus, despite the fact that children differ suibstantially in cognitive aptitudes and appetites, and despite the very high probability that these differences have a substantial genetic component, available scientific evidence strongly suggests that environmental factors are responsible for the failure of children not suffering from specific neurological disorders to achieve adequate levels of cognitive performance. 2) Under prevailing social conditions, no valid inferences can be drawn from IQ data concerning systematic genetic differences among races or socioeconomic groups. Research along present lines directed toward this end-whatever its ethical status-is scientifically worthless. 3) Since there are no suitable data for estimating the narrow heritability of IQ, it seems pointless to speculate about the prospects for a hereditary meritocracy based on IQ.     

社会资本视阈中的社会主义新农村建设

新农村建设是一个涉及多种社会因素相互作用的系统工程。社会资本作为促进社会发展的一种积极因素对新农村建设起着不可或缺的作用。新农村建设的实现依赖于丰富的农村社会资本。这主要体现在村民之间的信任、合作和公众参与的基础上。新农村建设的实现离不开社会规范与秩序。这就要求认清农村社会资本的现状,对农村社会资本进行再造与提升,以利于新农村建设的实现。     

略论我国非政府组织政策参与问题

非政府组织参与政策过程对平衡多层次的社会利益，推动政府科学决策、民主决策并实现政治现代化具有重要意义。必须从内部机制和外部环境等2个方面入手，消除非政府组织政策参与的制约因素，促进非政府组织发挥参与功能。