Marshall Abrams
Biographic Data
| ID | 3874188 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Marshall Abrams |
| GIVEN NAMES | Marshall |
| FAMILY NAME | Abrams |
| SIGNATURE | ABRAMS M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Alabama at Birmingham |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 11 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 36 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 11 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1977 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2023 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Random Foraging and Perceived Randomness
Research in evolutionary ecology on random foraging seems to ignore the possibility that some random foraging is an adaptation not to environmental randomness, but to what Wimsatt called “perceived randomness.” This occurs when environmental features are unpredictable, whether physically random or not. Mere perceived randomness may occur, for example, due to effects of climate change or certain kinds of static landscape variation. I argue that an…
Evolution and the Machinery of Chance
Coherence, Muller’s Ratchet, and the Maintenance of Culture
I investigate the structure of an argument that culture cannot be maintained in a population if each individual learns only from a single person. This appears to conflict with (1) many models of cultural transmission and (2) real-world cases. I resolve the first problem by showing that one of the models central to the argument is conceptually analogous and mathematically equivalent to one used to investigate the evolution of sexual reproduction. …
Populations and pigeons
Mechanistic probability
Implications of Use of Wright's F ST for the Role of Probability and Causation in Evolution
Sewall Wright's is a mathematical test used to characterize differences between biological populations and identify causes of those differences. I discuss Cockerham and Weir's popular, empirically successful approach to statistical estimation of , arguing that their assumption that actual populations are sampled from an infinite set of counterfactual populations (with a common ancestral population) supports a view of natural selection and genetic…
What determines biological fitness? The problem of the reference environment
The Unity of Fitness
It has been argued that biological fitness cannot be defined as expected number of offspring in all contexts. Some authors argue that fitness therefore merely satisfies a common schema or that no unified mathematical characterization of fitness is possible. I argue that comparative fitness must be relativized to an evolutionary effect; thus relativized, fitness can be given a unitary mathematical characterization in terms of probabilities of prod…
How Do Natural Selection and Random Drift Interact
One controversy about the existence of so called evolutionary forces such as natural selection and random genetic drift concerns the sense in which such “forces” can be said to interact. In this paper I explain how natural selection and random drift can interact. In particular, I show how population-level probabilities can be derived from individual-level probabilities, and explain the sense in which natural selection and drift are embodied in th…
Infinite populations and counterfactual frequencies in evolutionary theory
Behaviorism and Deconstruction
Mechanistic probability
How Do Natural Selection and Random Drift Interact
One controversy about the existence of so called evolutionary forces such as natural selection and random genetic drift concerns the sense in which such “forces” can be said to interact. In this paper I explain how natural selection and random drift can interact. In particular, I show how population-level probabilities can be derived from individual-level probabilities, and explain the sense in which natural selection and drift are embodied in th…
What determines biological fitness? The problem of the reference environment
The Unity of Fitness
It has been argued that biological fitness cannot be defined as expected number of offspring in all contexts. Some authors argue that fitness therefore merely satisfies a common schema or that no unified mathematical characterization of fitness is possible. I argue that comparative fitness must be relativized to an evolutionary effect; thus relativized, fitness can be given a unitary mathematical characterization in terms of probabilities of prod…
Infinite populations and counterfactual frequencies in evolutionary theory
Behaviorism and Deconstruction
Infinite populations and counterfactual frequencies in evolutionary theory
How Do Natural Selection and Random Drift Interact
One controversy about the existence of so called evolutionary forces such as natural selection and random genetic drift concerns the sense in which such “forces” can be said to interact. In this paper I explain how natural selection and random drift can interact. In particular, I show how population-level probabilities can be derived from individual-level probabilities, and explain the sense in which natural selection and drift are embodied in th…
What determines biological fitness? The problem of the reference environment
The Unity of Fitness
It has been argued that biological fitness cannot be defined as expected number of offspring in all contexts. Some authors argue that fitness therefore merely satisfies a common schema or that no unified mathematical characterization of fitness is possible. I argue that comparative fitness must be relativized to an evolutionary effect; thus relativized, fitness can be given a unitary mathematical characterization in terms of probabilities of prod…
Mechanistic probability
Implications of Use of Wright's F ST for the Role of Probability and Causation in Evolution
Sewall Wright's is a mathematical test used to characterize differences between biological populations and identify causes of those differences. I discuss Cockerham and Weir's popular, empirically successful approach to statistical estimation of , arguing that their assumption that actual populations are sampled from an infinite set of counterfactual populations (with a common ancestral population) supports a view of natural selection and genetic…
Populations and pigeons
Coherence, Muller’s Ratchet, and the Maintenance of Culture
I investigate the structure of an argument that culture cannot be maintained in a population if each individual learns only from a single person. This appears to conflict with (1) many models of cultural transmission and (2) real-world cases. I resolve the first problem by showing that one of the models central to the argument is conceptually analogous and mathematically equivalent to one used to investigate the evolution of sexual reproduction. …
Random Foraging and Perceived Randomness
Research in evolutionary ecology on random foraging seems to ignore the possibility that some random foraging is an adaptation not to environmental randomness, but to what Wimsatt called “perceived randomness.” This occurs when environmental features are unpredictable, whether physically random or not. Mere perceived randomness may occur, for example, due to effects of climate change or certain kinds of static landscape variation. I argue that an…
Evolution and the Machinery of Chance
Computer Science (10 works) · Mathematics (8 works) · Biology (7 works) · Epistemology (7 works) · Evolution and Genetic Dynamics (7 works) · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation (7 works) · Philosophy (6 works) · Philosophy and History of Science (6 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Mathematical economics (5 works)