DTM.5:4.4 - Test the proposed selection mechanisms

For within-group selection, identify the process by which variants contribute differently under the group’s conditions. For a between-group explanation, identify what group property changes survival, contribution, recruitment or successor formation.

Consider an alternative that could reproduce the same decomposition: groups may encounter different audiences, receive unequal support, have different ages, or be observed with different completeness. Choose the distinguishing observation or comparison with MMP.16 and the applicable research method.

The response to a change must follow the mechanism. If a group’s larger contribution comes from privileged broadcast access, altering an internal learning method may leave that advantage unchanged. If the advantage comes from reliable results that others adopt, changing access alone can hide the relevant production difference.