Testing evolutionary hypotheses through large-scale behavioral simulations

沿着人类的大脑，人类的认知也是进化的产物。人类认知的复杂性，无论是个人还是集体，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，可能会对人工智能系统的工程、增强和增强人类能力以及改善社会条件产生影响。传统上，人类认知的进化主要通过两种方式进行研究：1）通过计算机模拟可能的进化过程，这些过程发生在很长一段时间和许多代人之间，或者2）通过实验室实验来检查现代人类的行为，以测试关于人类认知方面的进化假设。该研究项目开发了一种创新的第三种方法，结合了现有的两种方法。在这种方法中，不需要在计算机上模拟假设的人类认知过程，真实的人类可以在线完成相关任务。这允许测量真实的人类认知过程，然后将其纳入进化过程的计算机模拟中。 每个参与者将执行一个计算机化的任务，就像许多认知科学实验一样。为了将这些真实的人类数据纳入进化过程的计算机模拟中，每个人的数据都将影响计算机模拟的下一次迭代。具体来说，分配给下一组参与者的任务将受到前一组参与者的表现的影响。例如，可以基于较早参与者集合的表现来改变较晚参与者集合的可用信息的性质。通过许多组参与者和相应的模拟迭代，可以检查假设的进化过程，以更好地了解基因和文化如何随着时间和世代的推移相互作用，以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，复杂学习过程如何进化以及基因和文化如何相互作用的问题。用于运行这些模拟的软件将免费分发，使其他研究人员和教育工作者能够运行类似的模拟，以解决有关人类认知进化的广泛问题。该软件的一个版本也将被创建用于教育目的，以教学生有关进化过程。

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.