A few misunderstandings about reciprocal altruism

Abstract

Current discussion about reciprocal altruism is plagued by a few points of continuing disagreement/misunderstanding. In order to facilitate progress in understanding the role of reciprocity in animal societies, in this paper we try to highlight these points of disagreement/misunderstanding. Our contribution can be summarized by the following statements: (1) A temporal contingency between action and reciprocation is not the sole valid evidence for reciprocal altruism; (2) Reciprocity is not (always) cognitively demanding; (3) Kin biases in altruism are not necessarily and entirely due to kin selection; (4) Mutualism can also involve reciprocal partner choice; (5) Biological market theory is an extension of reciprocal altruism theory.