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A game theoretical approach to the evolution of structured communication codes

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Abstract

Structured meaning-signal mappings, i.e., mappings that preserve neighborhood relationships by associating similar signals with similar meanings, are advantageous in an environment where signals are corrupted by noise and sub-optimal meaning inferences are rewarded as well. The evolution of these mappings, however, cannot be explained within a traditional language evolutionary game scenario in which individuals meet randomly because the evolutionary dynamics is trapped in local maxima that do not reflect the structure of the meaning and signal spaces. Here we use a simple game theoretical model to show analytically that when individuals adopting the same communication code meet more frequently than individuals using different codes—a result of the spatial organization of the population—then advantageous linguistic innovations can spread and take over the population. In addition, we report results of simulations in which an individual can communicate only with its K nearest neighbors and show that the probability that the lineage of a mutant that uses a more efficient communication code becomes fixed decreases exponentially with increasing K. These findings support the mother tongue hypothesis that human language evolved as a communication system used among kin, especially between mothers and offspring.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Air Force Material Command, USAF, under grant number FA9550-06-1-0202, and in part by CNPq and FAPESP, Project No. 04/06156-3. The US Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Governmental purpose notwithstanding any copyright notation thereon.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Física de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, Caixa Postal 369, São Carlos, SP, 13560-970, Brazil

    José F. Fontanari

  2. Harvard University, 33 Oxford St, Rm 336, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA

    Leonid I. Perlovsky

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  1. José F. Fontanari
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  2. Leonid I. Perlovsky
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Correspondence to José F. Fontanari.

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Fontanari, J.F., Perlovsky, L.I. A game theoretical approach to the evolution of structured communication codes. Theory Biosci. 127, 205–214 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12064-008-0024-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12064-008-0024-1

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