'Social competence'refers to the ability of an individual to optimise its social behaviour
depending on available social information. Although such ability will enhance social …

Although cooperation is a widespread phenomenon in nature, human cooperation exceeds
that of all other species with regard to the scale and range of cooperative activities. Here we …

Decision rules of reciprocity include 'I help those who helped me'(direct reciprocity) and 'I
help those who have helped others'(indirect reciprocity), ie I help those who have a …

In any given species, cooperation involves prosocial acts that usually return a fitness benefit
to the actor. These acts are produced by a set of psychological rules, which will be similar in …

Cooperation often involves behaviours that reduce immediate payoffs for actors. Delayed
benefits have often been argued to pose problems for the evolution of cooperation because …

Research on the diversity, evolution and stability of cooperative behaviour has generated a
considerable body of work. As concepts simplify the real world, theoretical solutions are …

Social bonds have been construed as mental representations mediating social interactions
among individuals. It is problematic, however, to differentiate this mechanism from others …

Behaviour is typically regarded as among the most flexible of animal phenotypic traits. In
particular, expression of cooperative behaviour is often assumed to be conditional upon the …

This book offers an exciting new perspective on the origins of language. Language is
conceptualized as a collective invention, on the model of writing or the wheel, and the book …

Social living animals need to adjust the expression of their behavior to their status within the
group and to changes in social context and this ability (social plasticity) has an impact on …