Implications of Use of Wright's F for the Role of Probability and Causation in Evolution.

Sewall Wright's FST 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 FST , arguing that their assumption that actual po...

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Published in:Philosophy of Science Vol. 79; no. 5; pp. 596 - 609
Main Author: Abrams, Marshall
Format: Article
Published: Cambridge University Press Dec2012
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        au: Abrams, Marshall
        affil: Department of Philosophy, University of Alabama, Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294-1260
      su:
        Probability theory
        Causation (Philosophy)
        Heredity
        Simulation methods & models
        Computer simulation
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        subj:
          Probability theory
          Causation (Philosophy)
          Heredity
          Simulation methods & models
          Computer simulation
      ab: Sewall Wright's FST 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 FST , 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 drift as distinct causes. I also argue that the way in which F-statistics and other statistical tests are applied to computer simulations in empirical research shows that selection and drift correspond to differences in objective, causal probabilities.
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    language: English
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