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view/download model file: geneticdrift.nlogo
This model is an example of random selection. It shows that turtles that randomly exchange colors converge on a single color. The idea, explained in more detail in Dennett's "Darwin's Dangerous Idea", is that trait drifts can occur without any particular purpose or "selective pressure".
The model starts with a random distribution of colored agents. Turtles move by wiggling randomly across the world. When two turtles are next to each other, one turtle changes its color to the color of the other one. Note that if a color dies out, it can never come back.
The NUMBER slider sets the number of turtles. The COLORS slider selects the number of competing colors, up to ten.
The SETUP button initializes the model, and GO runs the model.
A monitor shows the percentage of turtles sharing the most common color. When this reaches 100%, the model stops.
After pressing PLACE-WALLS, the user can "draw" walls in the world at the location where the user clicks with the mouse. By pressing REMOVE-WALLS, the user can remove added walls. The REMOVE-ALL-WALLS button removes all walls including the border. (The SETUP button does not remove walls.)
Gradually a color will gain a slight dominance. By statistical advantage, a dominant color becomes more likely to have more colors like it. However, because the process is random, there will usually be a series of dominant colors before one color finally wins.
Experiment with adding walls.
When walls are added, groups of individuals can be geographically isolated so that they can not interact with their neighbors on the other side of the wall. Groups that are geographically isolated with walls will often end up with a different dominant color than the larger population. A group of individuals that is walled off becomes a "founding group". The founding group of individuals has a different genetic variability and distribution than the main population, so the frequency of certain traits may end up drifting in a different direction compared with the much larger population.
In this model, a turtle looks one patch to its right. If there's another turtle there, the "looking" turtle changes to that turtle's color. Since the turtles move randomly about the world, it's a matter of chance which turtle will change to the color of its neighbor.
Think of other rules for turtle interactions, random or otherwise, by which a turtle color might "take over".
GenDrift (P Global)
GenDrift (P local)
GenDrift (T reproduce)
To refer to this model in academic publications, please use: Wilensky, U. (1997). NetLogo GenDrift T interact model. http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/models/GenDriftTinteract. Center for Connected Learning and Computer-Based Modeling, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.
In other publications, please use: Copyright 1997 Uri Wilensky. All rights reserved. See http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/models/GenDriftTinteract for terms of use.