Evolution of primate sociality: Conflict and coordination in great apes

群体决策在社会认知的演变中起着至关重要的作用（Dunbar and Shultz 2017）。非人类灵长类动物是理解协调和冲突进化的理想模型，因为它们的社会复杂性和对人类进化的影响。例如，成对的黑猩猩可以协调实现互利的结果（例如，Melis et al., 2006），但对于更大的群体如何解决集体行动问题几乎一无所知。黑猩猩的协作可能是由于追求个人目标而不是集体决策。例如，黑猩猩的亲社会行为，如帮助他人，是自我追求的副产品，其亲社会利益也是副产品（Tennie, Jensen & Call, 2016）。人类是非常熟练的合作者，努力解决集体行动问题。虽然假设是“人多办事快”，但随着群体规模的增加，个人和群体本身的效率和生产力都会降低（林格尔曼效应）。这可能是由于团队规模越大，努力和动机就越少，也可能是团队规模越大，协调问题就越严重。除了动机和协调问题外，在最佳集体决策可能与个人偏好相冲突的情况下，也可能导致共识困难。该项目的主要目标是确定黑猩猩在合作模式下可以维持的最大群体规模，以及当外部选择可用或不可用时，它们如何解决集体行动问题。当冲突由协调失败、搭便车或不服从引起时，惩罚可以用来纠正行为并改善群体结果。然而，在非人类灵长类动物中，这种行为纠正的证据是有限的（Jensen, Call &Tomasello, 2007）。该项目的一个重要组成部分将是研究黑猩猩在群体环境中对搭便车和不服从的反应。最后，该项目将寻求了解冲突的动机基础以及如何解决这些冲突。一种主流理论认为，冲突后行为具有恢复关系的功能，但这可能是自我激励寻求安慰的副产品。所有这些项目的一个重要方面是社会网络（以及更广泛的网络）在为信息传播和建立共识提供预测模型方面的作用。博士生将接受社会网络和系统发育分析、观察和实验方法以及工程测试设备方面的培训

Group decision-making plays a critical role in the evolution of social cognition (Dunbar and Shultz 2017). Nonhuman primates are ideal models for understanding the evolution of coordination and conflict because of the complexity of their societies and the implications for human evolution. Pairs of chimpanzees, for instance, can coordinate to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes (e.g., Melis et al., 2006), yet almost nothing is known about how larger groups solve collective action problems. Chimpanzee coordination may be due to the pursuit of personal goals rather than collective decisions. For instance, chimpanzee prosocial behaviour, such as helping, is as a byproduct of self-regarding pursuits, with prosocial benefits arising as a by-product (Tennie, Jensen & Call, 2016). Humans, who are exceptionally skilled co-operators, struggle to solve collective action problems. While the assumption is that "many hands make short work," both individuals and the groups themselves become less efficient and less productive as group size increases (Ringelmann Effect). This may be due to decreasing effort and motivation with group size, or it may be that coordination problems increase with group size. In addition to motivation and coordination problems, difficulty in consensus can also result where an optimal collective decision may be in conflict with individual preferences. The key goal of this project is to determine the maximum group size that can be maintained by chimpanzees in a cooperative paradigm and how they solve collective action problems when outside options are available or not. When conflicts arise from coordination failure, free-riding or non-conformity, punishment can be used to correct behaviour and improving group outcomes. Yet evidence for this sort of behaviour correction in nonhuman primates is limited (Jensen, Call &Tomasello, 2007). An important component of the project will be examining how chimpanzees respond to free-riding and noncomformity in group settings. Finally, the project will seek to understand the motivational basis for conflicts and how these are resolved. A dominant theory is that post-conflict behaviour functions to restore relationships, but this might be a byproduct of self-motivated comfort seeking. An important aspect of all of these projects is the role of social networks (and networks more broadly) in providing a predictive model for information dissemination and consensus building. The PhD student will be trained in social network and phylogenetic analyses, observational and experimental methods, as well as engineering test equipment