Evolutionary Psychology Primer by Leda Cosmides and John Tooby

Evolutionary Psychology Primer by Leda Cosmides and John Tooby:

"The results of these investigations were striking. People who ordinarily cannot detect violations of if-then rules can do so easily and accurately when that violation represents cheating in a situation of social exchange (Cosmides, 1985, 1989; Cosmides & Tooby, 1989; 1992). This is a situation in which one is entitled to a benefit only if one has fulfilled a requirement (e.g., 'If you are to eat those cookies, then you must first fix your bed'; 'If a man eats cassava root, then he must have a tattoo on his chest'; or, more generally, 'If you take benefit B, then you must satisfy requirement R'). Cheating is accepting the benefit specified without satisfying the condition that provision of that benefit was made contingent upon (e.g., eating the cookies without having first fixed your bed)."