Symposium on the Biology of Conflict Management:
Do Monkeys, Hormones, Brain Mapping and Slime Mold Have Something to Tell Us?
Saturday, June 11, 2005 – Seville, Spain
In Conjunction with the 2005 Conference of IACM
Registration Form (84K PDF)
While conflict management has been emerging as a distinct professional practice and field of academic inquiry over the last several decades, there have been extraordinary advances in the biological sciences. Yet the potential contributions of biology and other so-called "hard sciences" to conflict management have been largely ignored by conflict management scholars and practitioners. Evolutionary theory is helping to develop better explanations of pro-social behaviors, the building blocks of conflict resolution. Meanwhile, technological breakthroughs in the neurosciences provide a window on brain and neuro-chemical functions that are associated with such behaviors. The Consortium on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution (CNCR) Nexus Project on Biology and Conflict Management is now examining the potential contributions of biology to the conflict management field.
The Broad Field Project and CNCR, in cooperation with the International Association for Conflict Management (IACM), are hosting a one-day symposium prior to IACM's 18th Annual Conference, at which leading researchers on the nexus of biology and conflict resolution will discuss their research. This will be a day of interaction, during which participants will actively explore how a better understanding of this nexus informs the theory and practice of conflict management. We anticipate a fascinating day of presentations and discussion.
Because many people will have traveled long distances the day before, the symposium will start at 10:00 a.m.; it will end at approximately 6:00 p.m. (We highly recommend that participants arrange to arrive in Seville by June 10th .) Registration will be limited to ensure that the dialogue is truly interactive.
Registration Fee: $95.00 (US) - see separate form.
For travel and hotel information, please refer to the IACM 2005 website
Hotel rooms are available at the IACM conference rate and should be booked on the IACM form.
For general questions about this pre-conference program, please e-mail CNCR@gsu.edu .
Preliminary Agenda
Presentations will be interspersed with discussion sessions and small group discussions.
Evolutionary Biology: The Starting Point - Douglas Yarn
Evolutionary theory is helping to better explain pro-social behaviors, the building blocks of conflict resolution. Yarn will describe the Nexus Project and give a primer on recent discoveries in evolution that have specific applications to conflict management.
Doug Yarn is Executive Director of the Consortium on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution (CNCR) and Professor of Law, Georgia State University College of Law.
Conflict and Cooperation as Emergent Behaviors - Dr. Gregory Jones
Many of us in conflict management know how Axelrod's work in game theory revealed the role of reciprocity in choosing negotiation strategies, but game theory was also central to the breakthrough work of biologists William Hamilton and Robert Trivers. Dr. Jones is using computer models to explore the complex dynamics of forgiveness and reputation in the determination of negotiation strategies which may be a product of cultural evolution.
Dr. Jones is Director of Research at the Consortium on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution and Faculty Research Fellow at the Georgia State University College of Law. His primary research area involves the application of experimental economics and behavioral psychology to negotiation and conflict resolution. He directs the CNCR Research Fellow Program and co-directs the CNCR's Computational Laboratory for Complex Adaptive Systems.
Social Evolution in the Myxobacteria - Dr. Gregory Velicer
Until recently, empirical studies of the evolution of social cooperation and conflict have focused almost exclusively on higher eukaryotes ("eukaryotes" include the organisms that most people are most familiar with, including all animals and plants, as well as fungi and protists.) Hang on to your hat: These "traditional" systems are now being joined by social microbes as model organisms for quantitative studies of social evolution. The prokaryotic myxobacteria, eukaryotic slime molds, bacterial biofilms and other microbial systems constitute complex webs of cooperation and competition. Their social interactions include altruism and cheating, division of labor, inter-organismal communication, and the building of multicellular structures. Dr. Velicer studies the evolution of social interactions in the myxobacteria, which exhibit cooperative motility, predation, and multicellular development.
Dr. Velicer directs a laboratory at the Max-Planck-Institut für Entwicklungs-biologie, Tübingen, Germany.
Conflict Management in Non-Human Primates - Dr. Filippo Aureli
Moving to more complex multi-cellular organisms, knowledge from two decades of research on post-conflict reconciliation among primates has provided unique insights into the patterning of post-conflict resolution. Dr. Aureli is a pioneer in the study of conflict management among non-human primates. Among his many publications is Natural Conflict Resolution (with Frans de Waal, University of California Press, 2000).
Dr. Aureli currently teaches at the School of Biological and Earth Sciences, John Moores University, Liverpool, UK.
Hormones and the Neurobiology of Trust - Dr. Paul Zak
Some degree of trust is necessary to reach agreement and resolve conflict. What induces some individuals to be trusting/trustworthy is not well understood. Animal models indicate that a suite of hormones, especially the neuroactive peptide oxytocin, are associated with pro-social behaviors. To determine the physiological basis for interpersonal trust among humans, Dr. Zak examined interpersonal trust in 30 subjects using a one-shot, anonymous game-theoretic social interaction with monetary payoffs using a blood draw to measure hormone levels, and a social survey of factors known to affect basal hormone levels. He found that oxytocin levels are a strong predictor of trust and trustworthiness, while cortisol and testosterone are weaker predictors. A number of social factors are shown to correlate with oxytocin levels. This suggests several novel approaches for institutional design to facilitate trust.
Dr. Zak is Chair of the Department of Economics, Claremont Graduate University and Founding Director, Center for Neuroeconomics Studies. His research and teaching integrates neuroscience and economics into a new discipline, neuroeconomics. His current research focuses social cognition producing cooperation or conflict, decision- making under uncertainty, the neural foundation of human capital, and the effect of institutional design on economic development.
Neuro-Imaging: A Window on the Cooperating Brain? - speaker to be announced
Advances in neuro-imaging technology are providing detailed information on how the brain functions during social interactions. Preliminary research on brain function during cooperation games provides a tantalizing glimpse at a promising stream of research.
A detailed agenda and additional information will be e-mailed to participants approximately two weeks before the pre-conference symposium.
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