Testing evolutionary hypotheses through large-scale behavioral simulations

与人脑一样，人类认知也是进化的产物。人类认知的复杂性，无论是单独的还是集体的，都包括共享信息、创新和开发复杂的技术、制度和规范。人类认知和行为的这些方面为什么以及如何形成，是一个跨越许多学科的问题，包括生物学、心理学、语言学、考古学和人类学。这也是一个重要的问题，因为了解人类认知和行为的各个方面是如何形成的，可能会对设计人工智能系统、增强和增强人类能力以及改善社会条件产生影响。传统上，研究人类认知进化的方法有两种：1)通过计算机模拟可能发生在很长一段时间和许多世代中的进化过程，或者2)通过实验室实验检查现代人的行为，以测试关于人类认知方面的进化假说。这项研究项目开发了一种创新的第三种方法，将两种现有的方法结合在一起。在这种方法中，真人可以在线完成相关任务，而不是需要在计算机上模拟假想的人类认知过程。这使得可以测量真实的人类认知过程，然后将其并入进化过程的计算机模拟。每个参与者都将执行一项计算机化的任务，就像许多认知科学实验中的那样。为了将这些真实的人类数据纳入进化过程的计算机模拟，每个人的数据将影响计算机模拟的下一次迭代。具体地说，分配给下一组参与者的任务将受到之前参与者的表现的影响。例如，可以基于较早的一组参与者的表现来改变较晚一组参与者的可用信息的性质。在许多组参与者和相应的模拟迭代中，可以检查假设的进化过程，以更好地理解基因和文化如何随着时间和世代的推移相互作用，产生当今人类的认知能力和行为。研究人员将使用众包技术招募大量参与者，并将探索有关语言进化、复杂学习过程如何演变以及基因和文化如何相互作用的问题。为运行这些模拟而开发的软件将免费分发，使其他研究人员和教育工作者能够运行类似的模拟，以解决关于人类认知进化的广泛问题。该软件的一个版本还将用于教育目的，向学生传授进化过程。

Along with the human brain, human cognition is a product of evolution. The complexities of human cognition, both individually and collectively, include sharing information, innovating, and developing complex technologies, institutions and norms. Why and how these aspects of human cognition and behavior came to be is a question that crosses many disciplines, including biology, psychology, linguistics, archaeology and anthropology. It is also an important one, as understanding how various aspects of human cognition and behavior came to be what they are could have implications for engineering artificially intelligent systems, enhancing and augmenting human capabilities, and improving upon societal conditions. Traditionally, the evolution of human cognition has been investigated in either of two ways: 1) through computer simulations of possible evolutionary processes that took place over long periods of time and many generations, or 2) through laboratory experiments that examine the behavior of modern humans to test evolutionary hypotheses about aspects of human cognition. This research project develops an innovative third approach that combines the two existing approaches. In this approach, rather than needing to simulate hypothetical human cognitive processes on a computer, a real human being can complete a relevant task online. This allows for real human cognitive processes to be measured and then incorporated into the computer simulation of evolutionary processes. Each participant will perform a computerized task much like in many cognitive science experiments. To incorporate these real human data into computer simulations of evolutionary processes, each person's data will influence the next iteration of the computer simulation. Specifically, the task given to the next set of participants will be affected by the performance of the participants that preceded them. For example, the nature of the available information for a later set of participants might be altered based on the performance of the earlier set of participants. Across many sets of participants and corresponding iterations of the simulation, hypothetical evolutionary processes can be examined to better understand how genes and culture interacted over time and generations to produce present-day human cognitive capabilities and behaviors. The investigators will use crowdsourcing technology to recruit large numbers of participants, and will explore questions about the evolution of language, how complex learning processes evolved, and how genes and culture interact. The software developed to run these simulations will be distributed freely, making it possible for other researchers and educators to run similar simulations to address a wide range of questions about the evolution of human cognition. A version of the software will also be created for educational purposes to teach students about evolutionary processes.