Michael Gurven

Top-down and bottom-up research in biodemography (2008)

Hillard Kaplan, Michael Gurven

The most efficient way to make scientific progress in biodemography is to encourage bi-directional exchange between 'top-down' and 'bottom-up' research. This will entail exchange along the continuum...

Mortality experience of Tsimane amerindians of Bolivia: Regional variation and temporal trends (2007)

Supa, Alfredo Zelada, Kaplan, Hillard, Gurven, Michael

This paper examines regional and temporal trends in mortality patterns among the Tsimane, a population of small-scale forager-horticulturalists in lowland Bolivia. We compare age-specific mortality...

Growth rates and life histories in twenty-two small-scale societies Do not cite in any context without permission of the authors. (2006)

Walker, Robert, Gurven, Michael, Hill, Kim, Migliano, Andrea, Chagnon, Napoleon, De Souza, Roberta, ...

This study investigates variation in body growth (cross-sectional height and weight velocity) among a sample of 22 small-scale societies. Considerable variation in growth exists among...

“Economic man” in cross-cultural perspective: Behavioral experiments in 15 small-scale societies (2005)

Henrich, Joseph, Boyd, Robert, Bowles, Samuel, Camerer, Colin, Fehr, Ernst, Gintis, Herbert, ...

Researchers from across the social sciences have found consistent deviations from the predictions of the canonical model of self-interest in hundreds of experiments from around the world. This...

Economic Games Among the Amazonian Tsimane: Exploring the Roles of Market Access, Costs of Giving, and Cooperation on Pro-Social Game Behavior (2002)

Michael Gurven

This paper reports the results of the Ultimatum Game (UG), Dictator Game (DG) and Public Goods Game (PGG) played among the Tsimane, a group of forager-horticulturalists living in the Bolivian Amazon....

Genetic traces of ancient demography

Harpending, Henry C., Batzer, Mark A., Gurven, Michael, Jorde, Lynn B., Rogers, Alan R., Sherry, Stephen T.

Patterns of gene differences among humans contain information about the demographic history of our species. Haploid loci like mitochondrial DNA and the nonrecombining part of the Y chromosome show a...

Genetic traces of ancient demography

Harpending, Henry C., Batzer, Mark A., Gurven, Michael, Jorde, Lynn B., Rogers, Alan R., Sherry, Stephen T.

Patterns of gene differences among humans contain information about the demographic history of our species. Haploid loci like mitochondrial DNA and the nonrecombining part of the Y chromosome show a...

Economic Man in Cross-Cultural Perspective: Behavioral Experiments in Fifteen Small-Scale Societies

Joseph Henrich, Robert Boyd, Samuel Bowles, Colin Camerer, Ernst Fehr, Herbert Gintis, ...

Experimental behavioral scientists have found consistent deviations from the predictions of the canonical model of self-interest in over a hundred experiments from around the world. Prior research...

Economic Games Among the Amazonian Tsimane: Exploring the Roles of Market Access, Costs of Giving, and Cooperation on Pro-Social Game Behavior

Michael Gurven

This paper reports the results of the Ultimatum Game (UG), Dictator Game (DG) and Public Goods Game (PGG) played among the Tsimane, a group of forager-horticulturalists living in the Bolivian Amazon....

Energetic demand of multiple dependents and the evolution of slow human growth

Gurven, Michael, Walker, Robert

This study investigates the consequences of the human foraging niche and multiple dependent offspring on the optimal growth trajectory of humans. We test the hypothesis that the human pattern of slow...

Why do men marry and why do they stray?

Winking, Jeffrey, Kaplan, Hillard, Gurven, Michael, Rucas, Stacey

Humans are quite unusual compared to other great apes in that reproduction typically takes place within long-term, iteroparous pairings—social arrangements that have been culturally reified as the...

Longevity Among Hunter- Gatherers: A Cross-Cultural Examination

Michael Gurven, Hillard Kaplan

Post-reproductive longevity is a robust feature of human life and not only a recent phenomenon caused by improvements in sanitation, public health, and medical advances. We argue for an adaptive life...

Top-down and bottom-up research in biodemography

Hillard Kaplan, Michael Gurven

The most efficient way to make scientific progress in biodemography is to encourage bi-directional exchange between ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ research. This will entail exchange along the...

More ‘altruistic’ punishment in larger societies

Marlowe, Frank W, Berbesque, J. Colette, Barr, Abigail, Barrett, Clark, Bolyanatz, Alexander, Cardenas, Juan Camilo, ...

If individuals will cooperate with cooperators, and punish non-cooperators even at a cost to themselves, then this strong reciprocity could minimize the cheating that undermines cooperation. Based...

The trade-off between number and size of offspring in humans and other primates

Walker, Robert S, Gurven, Michael, Burger, Oskar, Hamilton, Marcus J

Life-history theory posits a fundamental trade-off between number and size of offspring that structures the variability in parental investment across and within species. We investigate this...

Homo Aequalis: A Cross-Society Experimental Analysis of Three Bargaining Games

Abigail Barr, Chris Wallace, Jean Ensminger, Joseph Henrich, Clark Barrett, Alexander Bolyanatz, ...

Data from three bargaining games - the Dictator Game, the Ultimatum Game, and the Third-Party Punishment Game - played in 15 societies are presented. The societies range from US undergraduates to...