Publications

BOOKModeling Social Behavior book cover

WORKS IN PROGRESS

  • Hickey D, Schmitz M, Fessler D, Smaldino PE, Muric G, Burghardt K (working paper) Hostile counterspeech drives users from Reddit hate communities. [arXiv]
  • Dunivin ZO, Smaldino PE (working paper) Dynamics of covert identity signaling: Modeling the emergence and extinction of identity signals. [PsyArXiv]
  • Smaldino PE, Pérez Velilla A (working paper) The evolution of similarity-biased social learning. [SocArXiv]

2024 AND FORTHCOMING

  • Smaldino PE (in press) Signaling. In: The open encyclopedia of cognitive science. MIT Press.
  • Burghardt GM, Pellis SM, Schank JC, Smaldino PE, Vanderschuren LJMJ, Palagi E (in press) Animal play and evolution: Seven timely research questions about enigmatic phenomena. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. [link][PDF]
  • Steiglechner P, Keijzer MA, Smaldino PE, Moser D, Merico A (in press) Noise and opinion dynamics: How ambiguity promotes pro-majority consensus in the presence of confirmation biasRoyal Society Open Science. [SocArXiv]
  • Garg K, Smaldino PE, Kello CT (2024) Evolution of explorative and exploitative search strategies in collective foragingCollective Intelligence. [link][bioRxiv]
  • Tiokhin L, Lakens D, Smaldino PE, Panchanathan K (in press) Shifting the level of selection in science. Perspectives on Psychological Science. [link][MetaArXiv]
  • Smaldino PE, Moser C, Pérez Velilla A, Werling M (2024) Maintaining transient diversity is a general principle for improving collective problem solvingPerspectives on Psychological Science 19(2): 454–464. [link][SocArXiv]
  • Smaldino PE (2024) The miss of the framework [commentary on Almaatouq et al]. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 47: e59. [link][PsyArXiv]
  • Safarzynska K, Smaldino PE (2024) Reducing global inequality increases local cooperation: A simple model of group selection with a global externality. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 379: 20220267. [link][PDF]

2023

  • Moser C, Smaldino PE (2023) Innovation-facilitating networks create inequalityProceedings of the Royal Society B 290: 20232281. [link][SocArXiv]
  • Steiglechner P, Smaldino PE, Moser D, Merico A (2023) Social identity bias and communication network clustering interact to shape patterns of opinion dynamicsJournal of the Royal Society Interface 20: 20230372. [link][SocArXiv]
  • Smaldino PE, Pietraszewski D, Wertz AE (2023) On the problems solved by cognitive processes. Cognitive Science 47: e13297. [PsyArXiv]
  • Boroomand A, Smaldino PE (2023) Superiority bias and communication noise can enhance collective problem solving. Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation 26(3): 14. [link][SocArXiv]
  • Powell M, Kim AD, Smaldino PE (2023) Hashtags as signals of political identity: #BlackLivesMatter and #AllLivesMatterPLOS ONE 18(6): e0286524. [link][SocArXiv]
  • Turner MA, Moya C, Smaldino PE, Jones JH (2023) The form of uncertainty affects selection for social learningEvolutionary Human Sciences 5: E20. [link]
  • Hickey D, Schmitz M, Fessler D, Smaldino PE, Burghardt K (2023) Auditing Elon Musk’s impact on hate speech and bots. Proceedings of the International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media 17(1): 1133–1137.
  • Galesic M, Barkoczsi D, Berdahl A, Biro D, Carbone G, Giannoccaro I, Goldstone R, Gonzalez C, Kandler A, Kao A, Kendal R, Kline M, Lee E, Massari GF, Mesoudi A, Olsson H, Pescetelli N, Sloman S, Smaldino PE, Stein DL (2023) Beyond collective intelligence: Collective adaptation. Journal of the Royal Society Interface 20: 20220736. [link][SocArXiv]
  • Kohrt F, Smaldino PE, McElreath R, Schönbrodt F (2023) Replication of the natural selection of bad scienceRoyal Society Open Science 10: 221306. [link][MetaArXiv]
  • Frankenhuis WE, Panchanathan K, Smaldino PE (2023) Strategic ambiguity in the social sciences. Social Psychological Bulletin 18: e9923. [link][MetaArXiv].
  • Wu J, O’Connor C, Smaldino PE (2023) The cultural evolution of science. In: JJ Tehrani, J Kendal, & R Kendal (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of cultural evolution. Oxford University Press. [link][MetaArXiv]

2022

  • Smaldino PE, O’Connor C (2022) Interdisciplinarity can aid the spread of better methods between scientific communitiesCollective Intelligence 1(2). [link][code:NetLogo]
  • Falandays JB, Smaldino PE (2022) The emergence of cultural attractors: How dynamic populations of learners achieve collective cognitive alignmentCognitive Science 46: e13183. [PDF][code:Python]
  • Moser C, Smaldino PE (2022) Organizational development as generative entrenchment. Entropy 24(7): 879. [link]
  • Turner MA, Moya C, Smaldino PE, Jones JH (2022) Some forms of uncertainty may suppress the evolution of social learning. In Proceedings of the 44th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. [PDF]
  • Garg K, Kello CT, Smaldino PE (2022) Individual exploration and selective social learning: Balancing exploration-exploitation trade-offs in collective foraging. Journal of the Royal Society Interface 19: 20210915. [PDF]
  • van der Does T, Galesic M, Dunivin ZO, Smaldino PE (2022) Strategic identity signaling in heterogeneous networksProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119: e2117898119. [link]
  • Pisor AC, Basurto X, Douglass KG, Mach KJ, Ready E, Tylianakis JM, Hazel A, Kline MA, Kramer KL, Lansing JS, Moritz M, Smaldino PE, Thornton TF, Jones JH (2022) Effective climate-change adaptation means supporting community autonomy. Nature Climate Change 12: 213–215. [PDF]
  • Smaldino PE (2022) Models of identity signaling. Current Directions in Psychological Science. [PDF]
  • Smaldino PE, Turner MA (2022) Covert signaling is an adaptive communication strategy in diverse populations. Psychological Review 129: 812–829. [PDF][SocArXiv][code:Python]
  • Pérez Velilla A, Moser CJ, Smaldino PE (2022) Hidden clusters beyond ethnic boundaries [commentary on Uchiyama et al.] Behavioral and Brain Sciences. [PsyArXiv]
  • Turner MA, Smaldino PE (2022) Mechanistic modeling for the masses [commentary on Yarkoni] Behavioral and Brain Sciences 45: e33. [PsyArXiv]
  • Smaldino PE (2022) Five models of science, illustrating how selection shapes methods. In G Ramsey & A De Block (Eds.), The dynamics of science: Computational frontiers in history and philosophy of science. University of Pittsburgh Press. [PDF][SocArXiv]

2021

  • McDiarmid AD, Tullett AM, Whitt CM, Vazire S, Smaldino PE, Stephens EE (2021) Psychologists update their beliefs about effect sizes after replication studiesNature Human Behaviour 5: 1663–1673. [link][PsyArXiv]
  • Moser C, Ackerman J, Dayer A, Proksch S, Smaldino PE (2021) Why don’t cockatoos have war songs? [commentary on Mehr et al. and Savage et al.] Behavioral and Brain Sciences 44: e108. [PsyArXiv]
  • Boroomand A, Smaldino PE (2021) Hard work, risk, and diversity in a model of collective problem solving. Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation 24(4): 10. [link]
  • Falandays JB, Smaldino PE (2021) The emergence of cultural attractors: An agent-based model of collective cognitive alignment. In Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. [PDF][code:Python]
  • Smaldino PE, Jones JH (2021) Coupled dynamics of behaviour and disease contagion among antagonistic groupsEvolutionary Human Sciences 3: e28. [link]
  • Brand CO, Mesoudi A, Smaldino PE (2021) Analogy as a catalyst for cumulative cultural evolutionTrends in Cognitive Sciences 25: 450–461. [PDF]
  • Yarkoni T, Eckles D, Heathers JAJ, Levenstein MC, Smaldino PE, Lane JI (2021) Enhancing and accelerating social science via automation: Challenges and opportunitiesHarvard Data Science Review 3(2). [link]

2020

  • Smaldino PE (2020) How to build a strong theoretical foundation [commentary on Fried]. Psychological Inquiry 31: 297–301. [PDF]
  • Moya C, Cruz y Celis Peniche P, Kline MA, Smaldino PE (2020) Dynamics of behavior change in the COVID worldAmerican Journal of Human Biology 32: e23485. [link]
  • Smaldino PE (2020) Evolutionary social science needs programmatic training in how models work [commentary on Barrett]Evolution and Human Behavior 41: 460–461. [PDF]
  • Smaldino PE (2020) How to translate a verbal theory into a formal modelSocial Psychology 51: 207–218. [PDF][MetaArXiv][link]
  • Turner MA, Smaldino PE (2020) Stubborn extremism as a potential pathway to group polarization. In Proceedings of the 42st Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. [PDF][code:Python]
  • Zefferman MR, Smaldino PE (2020) Integrating models of cognition and culture will require a bit more math [commentary on Veissière et al]. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 43: e90. [PDF]
  • Lukaszewski A, Gurven M, von Rueden CR, Smaldino PE (2020) Toward integration of the niche diversity hypothesis with other explanations for personality covariation: Reply to Međedović’s (2019) commentary on Lukaszewski et al. (2017)Social Psychological and Personality Science 11: 574–576. [PDF]

2019 

  • Smaldino PE (2019) Better methods can’t make up for mediocre theoryNature 575: 9 [link]
  • Smaldino PE, Lukaszewski A, von Rueden C, Gurven M (2019) Niche diversity can explain cross-cultural differences in personality structureNature Human Behaviour 3: 1276–1283. [PsyArXiv][link][code:Java]
  • Smaldino PE (2019) A modeling approach that integrates individual behavior, social networks, and cross-cultural variationTrends in Cognitive Sciences 23: 818–820. [PDF]
  • Hilbert M, Barnett G, Blumenstock J, Contractor N, Diesner J, Frey S, González-Bailón S, Lamberson PJ, Pan J, Peng TQ, Shen C, Smaldino PE, van Atteveldt W, Waldherr A, Zhan J, Zhu JJH (2019) Computational communication science: A methodological catalyzer for a maturing discipline. International Journal of Communication 13: 3912–3934. [link]
  • Smaldino PE, Palagi E, Burghardt GM, Pellis SM (2019) The evolution of two types of playBehavioral Ecology 30: 1388–1397. [PDF] [code:Mathematica]
  • Smaldino PE (2019) The evolution of the social self: Multidimensionality of social identity solves the coordination problems of a society. In AC Love & WC Wimsatt (Eds.), Beyond the meme: Dynamical structures in cultural evolution (pp 445–469). University of Minnesota Press. [PDF][full OA book]
  • Smaldino PE, Spivey MJ (2019) Mills made of grist, and other interesting ideas in need of clarification [commentary on C Heyes]. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 42: e182. [PDF] 
  • Smaldino PE, Turner MA, Contreras Kallens PA (2019) Open science and modified funding lotteries can impede the natural selection of bad scienceRoyal Society Open Science 6: 190194. [link] [OSF preprint] [code:D]
  • Smaldino PE (2019) Social identity and cooperation in cultural evolutionBehavioural Processes, 161, 108–116. [link]

2018

  • Turner MA, Smaldino PE (2018) Paths to polarization: How extreme views, miscommunication, and random chance drive opinion dynamicsComplexity, 2018, 2740959. [link] [code:Python]
  • Contreras Kallens PA, Dale R, Smaldino PE (2018) Cultural evolution of categorizationCognitive Systems Research, 52, 765–774. [PDF]
  • Smaldino PE, Aplin LM, Farine DR (2018) Sigmoidal acquisition curves are good indicators of conformist transmissionScientific Reports 8, 14015. [link]
  • Smaldino PE (2018) Modeling the evolution of strategies for learning and decision makingEvolutionary Behavioral Sciences, 12, 173–176. [PDF]
  • Smaldino PE, Flamson TJ, McElreath R (2018) The evolution of covert signalingScientific Reports 8, 4905. [link] [code:Mathematica]
  • Smaldino PE, D’Souza R, Maoz Z (2018) Resilience by structural entrenchment: Dynamics of single-layer and multiplex networks following sudden changes to tie costs. Network Science, 6, 157–175. [PDF] [code:Java]
  • Marriott C, Borg JM, Andras P, Smaldino PE (2018) Social learning and cultural evolution in Artificial LifeArtificial Life 24: 5–9. [PDF]

2017

  • Smaldino PE (2017) Models are stupid, and we need more of them. In RR Vallacher, A Nowak, & SJ Read (Eds.), Computational social psychology. Psychology Press. [PDF]
  • Smaldino PE, Janssen MA, Hillis V, Bednar J (2017) Adoption as a social marker: Innovation diffusion with outgroup aversion. Journal of Mathematical Sociology, 41, 26–45. [PDF] [code:Java]
  • Waring TM, Goff SH, Smaldino PE (2017) The coevolution of economic institutions and sustainable consumption via cultural group selection. Ecological Economics, 131, 524–532. [PDF] [code:NetLogo]
  • Schank JC, Miller ML, Smaldino PE (2017) The evolution of fair offers with low rejection thresholds in the Ultimatum GamebioRxiv 162313 [link]

2016

  • Smaldino PE, McElreath R (2016) The natural selection of bad science. Royal Society Open Science, 3, 160384[link] [code:Java]
  • Smaldino PE (2016) Not even wrong: Imprecision perpetuates the illusion of understanding at the cost of actual understanding [commentary on RF Baumeister et al]. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 39, e124. [PDF]
  • Smaldino PE (2016) It’s all connected, man. A review of César Hidalgo’s Why Information Grows: The Evolution of Order, from Atoms to Economies. Cliodynamics, 7, 175–180. [link]
  • Makowsky MD, Smaldino PE (2016) The evolution of power and the divergence of cooperative norms. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 126, 75–88. [PDF]
  • Richerson P, Baldini R, Bell AV, Demps K, Frost K, Hillis V, Mathew S, Newton EK, Naar N, Newson L, Ross C, Smaldino PE, Waring TM, Zefferman MR (2016) Cultural group selection plays an essential role in explaining human cooperation: A sketch of the evidence [target article]. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 39, e30. [PDF]

2015

  • McElreath R, Smaldino PE (2015) Replication, communication, and the population dynamics of scientific discovery. PLOS ONE, 10(8), e0136088. [link] [code:Mathematica]
  • Smaldino PE, Calanchini J, Pickett CL (2015) Theory development with agent-based modelsOrganizational Psychology Review, 5(4), 300–317. [PDF]
  • Schank JC, Smaldino PE, Miller ML (2015) Evolution of fairness in the dictator game by multilevel selectionJournal of Theoretical Biology, 382, 64–73. [PDF] 
  • Smaldino PE, Newton EK (2015) Teaching as an exaptation [commentary on MA Kline]. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 38, e66. [PDF]
  • Waring TM, Kline MA, Brooks JS, Goff SH, Gowdy J, Janssen MA, Smaldino PE, Jacquet J (2015) A multi-level evolutionary framework for sustainability analysis. Ecology and Society, 20(2), 34. [link]
  • Klein EY, Chelen J, Makowsky MD, Smaldino PE (2015) The need for more integrated epidemic modeling, with emphasis on antibiotic resistance. In R Melnik (Ed.), Mathematical and computational modeling: With applications in the natural and social sciences, engineering, and the arts (pp. 121–134). New York: Wiley. [PDF]
  • Smaldino PE, Epstein JM (2015) Social conformity despite individual preferences for distinctiveness. Royal Society Open Science, 2, 140437. [link][supplemental proof by Jeremy Van Cleve] [code:Java] [code:Javascript] [animation]

2014

  • Smaldino PE (2014) The cultural evolution of emergent group-level traits [target article]. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 37, 243-295. [PDF][link]
  • Smaldino PE, Waring TM (2014) Let the social sciences evolve [commentary on DS Wilson et al.]. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 37, 437. [PDF]
  • Smaldino PE, Newson L (2014) Parent-offspring conflict in mate choice: A commentary on the study by van den Berg, Fawcett, Buunk, and WeissingEvolution and Human Behavior, 35, 155-157. [PDF]
  • Smaldino PE, Lubell M (2014) Institutions and cooperation in an ecology of gamesArtificial Life, 20(2), 207-221. [PDF] [code:Java]

2013

  • Smaldino PE, Richerson PJ (2013) Human cumulative cultural evolution as a form of distributed computation. In P Michelucci (Ed.), Handbook of human computation (pp. 979–992). New York: Springer. [PDF]
  • Smaldino PE, Newson L, Schank JC, Richerson PJ (2013) Simulating the evolution of the human family: Cooperative breeding increases in harsh environments. PLoS ONE, 8(11), e80753. [link] [code:Java]
  • Smaldino PE (2013) Review of ‘Complex human dynamics: From minds to society,’ edited by A Nowak, K Winkowska-Nowak, D BréeJournal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, 16(4). [link]
  • Smaldino PE (2013) Cooperation in harsh environments and the emergence of spatial patternsChaos, Solitons & Fractals, 56, 6–12. [PDF] [code:Java] [code:NetLogo]
  • Smaldino PE, Schank JC, McElreath R (2013) Increased costs of cooperation help cooperators in the long runThe American Naturalist, 181(4), 451–463. [PDF] [code:Java] [JAR] [code:NetLogo]
  • Smaldino PE (2013) Measures of individual uncertainty for ecological models: Variance and entropyEcological Modelling, 254, 50–53. [PDF]

2012

  • Smaldino PE, Pickett CL, Sherman JW, Schank JC (2012) An agent-based model of social identity dynamicsJournal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, 15(4), 7. [link] [code:Java] [JAR]
  • Smaldino PE, Schank JC (2012) Movement patterns, social dynamics, and the evolution of cooperationTheoretical Population Biology, 82, 48–58 [PDF] [code:Java] [code:NetLogo]
  • Smaldino PE, Richerson PJ (2012) The origins of optionsFrontiers in Neuroscience, 6, 50. [link]
  • Smaldino PE, Schank JC (2012) Invariants of human emotion [commentary]. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 35, 164. [link]
  • Smaldino PE, Schank JC (2012) Human mate choice is a complex systemComplexity, 17(5), 11–22. [PDF] [code:Java]

2011

  • Smaldino PE, Lubell M (2011) An institutional mechanism for assortment in an ecology of gamesPLoS ONE, 6(8), e23019. [link] [code:Java]
  • Pickett CL, Smaldino PE, Sherman JW, Schank JC (2011) Agent-based modeling as a tool for studying social identity processes: The case of optimal distinctiveness theory. In RM Kramer, GJ Leonardelli, & RW Livingston (Eds.), Social cognition, social identity, and intergroup relations: A festschrift in honor of Marilynn Brewer (pp. 127–143). New York: Psychology Press. [PDF]

EARLIER

  • Blümel R, Smaldino PE (1999) Induction accelerator for crystalline beamsPhysics Letters A, 260, 495–501. [PDF]