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André JB, Baumard N, Boyer P. Cultural evolution from the producers' standpoint. EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES 2023; 5:e25. [PMID: 37706214 PMCID: PMC10495820 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2023.20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2022] [Revised: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 06/02/2023] [Indexed: 09/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Standard approaches to cultural evolution focus on the recipients or consumers. This does not take into account the fitness costs incurred in producing the behaviours or artefacts that become cultural, i.e. widespread in a social group. We argue that cultural evolution models should focus on these fitness costs and benefits of cultural production, particularly in the domain of 'symbolic' culture. In this approach, cultural products can be considered as a part of the extended phenotype of producers, which can affect the fitness of recipients in a positive way (through cooperation) but also in a detrimental way (through manipulation and exploitation). Taking the producers' perspective may help explain the specific features of many kinds of cultural products.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Nicolas Baumard
- Département d'Etudes Cognitives, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France
| | - Pascal Boyer
- Department of Psychology, Washington University in St Louis, St Louis, MO, USA
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2
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Galesic M, Barkoczi D, Berdahl AM, Biro D, Carbone G, Giannoccaro I, Goldstone RL, Gonzalez C, Kandler A, Kao AB, Kendal R, Kline M, Lee E, Massari GF, Mesoudi A, Olsson H, Pescetelli N, Sloman SJ, Smaldino PE, Stein DL. Beyond collective intelligence: Collective adaptation. J R Soc Interface 2023; 20:20220736. [PMID: 36946092 PMCID: PMC10031425 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2022.0736] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2022] [Accepted: 02/27/2023] [Indexed: 03/23/2023] Open
Abstract
We develop a conceptual framework for studying collective adaptation in complex socio-cognitive systems, driven by dynamic interactions of social integration strategies, social environments and problem structures. Going beyond searching for 'intelligent' collectives, we integrate research from different disciplines and outline modelling approaches that can be used to begin answering questions such as why collectives sometimes fail to reach seemingly obvious solutions, how they change their strategies and network structures in response to different problems and how we can anticipate and perhaps change future harmful societal trajectories. We discuss the importance of considering path dependence, lack of optimization and collective myopia to understand the sometimes counterintuitive outcomes of collective adaptation. We call for a transdisciplinary, quantitative and societally useful social science that can help us to understand our rapidly changing and ever more complex societies, avoid collective disasters and reach the full potential of our ability to organize in adaptive collectives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirta Galesic
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
- Complexity Science Hub Vienna, 1080 Vienna, Austria
- Vermont Complex Systems Center, University of Vermont, Burlington, VM 05405, USA
| | | | - Andrew M. Berdahl
- School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Dora Biro
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK
| | - Giuseppe Carbone
- Department of Mechanics, Mathematics and Management, Politecnico di Bari, Bari 70125, Italy
| | - Ilaria Giannoccaro
- Department of Mechanics, Mathematics and Management, Politecnico di Bari, Bari 70125, Italy
| | - Robert L. Goldstone
- Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
| | - Cleotilde Gonzalez
- Department of Social and Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Anne Kandler
- Department of Mathematics, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig 04103, Germany
| | - Albert B. Kao
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
- Biology Department, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA 02125, USA
| | - Rachel Kendal
- Centre for Coevolution of Biology and Culture, Durham University, Anthropology Department, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
| | - Michelle Kline
- Centre for Culture and Evolution, Division of Psychology, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, UB8 3PH, UK
| | - Eun Lee
- Department of Scientific Computing, Pukyong National University, 45 Yongso-ro, Nam-gu, Busan, 48513, Republic of Korea
| | | | - Alex Mesoudi
- Department of Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn TR10 9FE, UK
| | | | | | - Sabina J. Sloman
- Department of Social and Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
- Department of Computer Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
| | - Paul E. Smaldino
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
- Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, Merced, CA 95343, USA
| | - Daniel L. Stein
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
- Department of Physics and Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, New York, NY 10012, USA
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3
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Hong Z. The Cultural Evolution of Medical Technologies : A Model of Sequential Treatments in the Medical Setting. HUMAN NATURE (HAWTHORNE, N.Y.) 2023; 34:64-87. [PMID: 36764999 PMCID: PMC9918401 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-023-09441-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/03/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2023]
Abstract
When people get ill, they naturally want to restore health through medical interventions. Here I model a situation in which individuals can psychologically entertain multiple potential treatments at once: when illness occurs, individuals would attempt one treatment first, and if it fails to produce an observable effect within a particular time period, a second treatment is attempted, and the eventual recovery is attributed to the treatment that is temporally closer. This creates population dynamics wherein the therapeutic power of the superior/effective medical treatments is misattributed to inferior/ineffective treatments. Through both analytic formulation and agent-based simulation, I show that the equilibrium frequencies of different treatment variants depend on their natural variability in the effect timing, the level of individual patience, and the number of cultural models sampled by the naive individual. Both ineffective and effective medical treatments may stably coexist in the population under a range of parameter settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ze Hong
- Department of Sociology, Zhejiang University, Yuhangtang Road 866, 310058, Hangzhou, China.
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
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4
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Singh M. Subjective selection and the evolution of complex culture. Evol Anthropol 2022; 31:266-280. [PMID: 36165208 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21948] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2020] [Revised: 11/30/2021] [Accepted: 05/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Why is culture the way it is? Here I argue that a major force shaping culture is subjective (cultural) selection, or the selective retention of cultural variants that people subjectively perceive as satisfying their goals. I show that people evaluate behaviors and beliefs according to how useful they are, especially for achieving goals. As they adopt and pass on those variants that seem best, they iteratively craft culture into increasingly effective-seeming forms. I argue that this process drives the development of many cumulatively complex cultural products, including effective technology, magic and ritual, aesthetic traditions, and institutions. I show that it can explain cultural dependencies, such as how certain beliefs create corresponding new practices, and I outline how it interacts with other cultural evolutionary processes. Cultural practices everywhere, from spears to shamanism, develop because people subjectively evaluate them to be effective means of satisfying regular goals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manvir Singh
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, Université de Toulouse 1 Capitole, Toulouse, France
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5
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Fitouchi L, André JB, Baumard N. Moral disciplining: The cognitive and evolutionary foundations of puritanical morality. Behav Brain Sci 2022; 46:e293. [PMID: 36111617 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x22002047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Why do many societies moralize apparently harmless pleasures, such as lust, gluttony, alcohol, drugs, and even music and dance? Why do they erect temperance, asceticism, sobriety, modesty, and piety as cardinal moral virtues? According to existing theories, this puritanical morality cannot be reduced to concerns for harm and fairness: It must emerge from cognitive systems that did not evolve for cooperation (e.g., disgust-based "purity" concerns). Here, we argue that, despite appearances, puritanical morality is no exception to the cooperative function of moral cognition. It emerges in response to a key feature of cooperation, namely that cooperation is (ultimately) a long-term strategy, requiring (proximately) the self-control of appetites for immediate gratification. Puritanical moralizations condemn behaviors which, although inherently harmless, are perceived as indirectly facilitating uncooperative behaviors, by impairing the self-control required to refrain from cheating. Drinking, drugs, immodest clothing, and unruly music and dance are condemned as stimulating short-term impulses, thus facilitating uncooperative behaviors (e.g., violence, adultery, free-riding). Overindulgence in harmless bodily pleasures (e.g., masturbation, gluttony) is perceived as making people slave to their urges, thus altering abilities to resist future antisocial temptations. Daily self-discipline, ascetic temperance, and pious ritual observance are perceived as cultivating the self-control required to honor prosocial obligations. We review psychological, historical, and ethnographic evidence supporting this account. We use this theory to explain the fall of puritanism in western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) societies, and discuss the cultural evolution of puritanical norms. Explaining puritanical norms does not require adding mechanisms unrelated to cooperation in our models of the moral mind.
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Affiliation(s)
- Léo Fitouchi
- Département d'études cognitives, Institut Jean Nicod, ENS, EHESS, PSL University, CNRS, Paris, France. ; https://sites.google.com/view/leofitouchi ; http://jb.homepage.free.fr/ ; https://nicolasbaumards.org/
| | - Jean-Baptiste André
- Département d'études cognitives, Institut Jean Nicod, ENS, EHESS, PSL University, CNRS, Paris, France. ; https://sites.google.com/view/leofitouchi ; http://jb.homepage.free.fr/ ; https://nicolasbaumards.org/
| | - Nicolas Baumard
- Département d'études cognitives, Institut Jean Nicod, ENS, EHESS, PSL University, CNRS, Paris, France. ; https://sites.google.com/view/leofitouchi ; http://jb.homepage.free.fr/ ; https://nicolasbaumards.org/
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6
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Acerbi A. From Storytelling to Facebook : Content Biases When Retelling or Sharing a Story. HUMAN NATURE (HAWTHORNE, N.Y.) 2022; 33:132-144. [PMID: 35488999 PMCID: PMC9250454 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-022-09423-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/10/2022] [Indexed: 10/31/2022]
Abstract
Cultural evolution researchers use transmission chain experiments to investigate which content is more likely to survive when transmitted from one individual to another. These experiments resemble oral storytelling, wherein individuals need to understand, memorize, and reproduce the content. However, prominent contemporary forms of cultural transmission-think an online sharing-only involve the willingness to transmit the content. Here I present two fully preregistered online experiments that explicitly investigated the differences between these two modalities of transmission. The first experiment (N = 1,080 participants) examined whether negative content, information eliciting disgust, and threat-related information were better transmitted than their neutral counterpart in a traditional transmission chain setup. The second experiment (N = 1,200 participants) used the same material, but participants were asked whether or not they would share the content in two conditions: in a large anonymous social network or with their friends, in their favorite social network. Negative content was both better transmitted in transmission chain experiments and shared more than its neutral counterpart. Threat-related information was successful in transmission chain experiments but not when sharing, and finally, information eliciting disgust was not advantaged in either. Overall, the results present a composite picture, suggesting that the interactions between the specific content and the medium of transmission are important and, possibly, that content biases are stronger when memorization and reproduction are involved in the transmission-as in oral transmission-than when they are not-as in online sharing. Negative content seems to be reliably favored in both modalities of transmission.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alberto Acerbi
- Centre for Culture and Evolution, Division of Psychology, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, UB8 3PH, UK.
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7
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Baumard N, Huillery E, Hyafil A, Safra L. The cultural evolution of love in literary history. Nat Hum Behav 2022; 6:506-522. [DOI: 10.1038/s41562-022-01292-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2021] [Accepted: 01/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
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8
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Osiurak F, Claidière N, Bluet A, Brogniart J, Lasserre S, Bonhoure T, Di Rollo L, Gorry N, Polette Y, Saude A, Federico G, Uomini N, Reynaud E. Technical reasoning bolsters cumulative technological culture through convergent transformations. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eabl7446. [PMID: 35235360 PMCID: PMC8890708 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abl7446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2021] [Accepted: 01/03/2022] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the evolution of human technology is key to solving the mystery of our origins. Current theories propose that technology evolved through the accumulation of modifications that were mostly transmitted between individuals by blind copying and the selective retention of advantageous variations. An alternative account is that high-fidelity transmission in the context of cumulative technological culture is supported by technical reasoning, which is a reconstruction mechanism that allows individuals to converge to optimal solutions. We tested these two competing hypotheses with a microsociety experiment, in which participants had to optimize a physical system in partial- and degraded-information transmission conditions. Our results indicated an improvement of the system over generations, which was accompanied by an increased understanding of it. The solutions produced tended to progressively converge over generations. These findings show that technical reasoning can bolster high-fidelity transmission through convergent transformations, which highlights its role in the cultural evolution of technology.
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Affiliation(s)
- François Osiurak
- Laboratoire d’Étude des Mécanismes Cognitifs, Université de Lyon, Lyon, France
- Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France
| | | | - Alexandre Bluet
- Laboratoire d’Étude des Mécanismes Cognitifs, Université de Lyon, Lyon, France
| | - Joël Brogniart
- Laboratoire d’Étude des Mécanismes Cognitifs, Université de Lyon, Lyon, France
| | - Salomé Lasserre
- Laboratoire d’Étude des Mécanismes Cognitifs, Université de Lyon, Lyon, France
| | - Timothé Bonhoure
- Laboratoire d’Étude des Mécanismes Cognitifs, Université de Lyon, Lyon, France
| | - Laura Di Rollo
- Laboratoire d’Étude des Mécanismes Cognitifs, Université de Lyon, Lyon, France
| | - Néo Gorry
- Laboratoire d’Étude des Mécanismes Cognitifs, Université de Lyon, Lyon, France
| | - Yohann Polette
- Laboratoire d’Étude des Mécanismes Cognitifs, Université de Lyon, Lyon, France
| | - Alix Saude
- Laboratoire d’Étude des Mécanismes Cognitifs, Université de Lyon, Lyon, France
| | | | - Natalie Uomini
- Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Emanuelle Reynaud
- Laboratoire d’Étude des Mécanismes Cognitifs, Université de Lyon, Lyon, France
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9
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Derex M. Human cumulative culture and the exploitation of natural phenomena. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200311. [PMID: 34894732 PMCID: PMC8666902 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2021] [Accepted: 09/09/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Cumulative cultural evolution (CCE)-defined as the process by which beneficial modifications are culturally transmitted and progressively accumulated over time-has long been argued to underlie the unparalleled diversity and complexity of human culture. In this paper, I argue that not just any kind of cultural accumulation will give rise to human-like culture. Rather, I suggest that human CCE depends on the gradual exploitation of natural phenomena, which are features of our environment that, through the laws of physics, chemistry or biology, generate reliable effects which can be exploited for a purpose. I argue that CCE comprises two distinct processes: optimizing cultural traits that exploit a given set of natural phenomena (Type I CCE) and expanding the set of natural phenomena we exploit (Type II CCE). I argue that the most critical features of human CCE, including its open-ended dynamic, stems from Type II CCE. Throughout the paper, I contrast the two processes and discuss their respective socio-cognitive requirements. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'The emergence of collective knowledge and cumulative culture in animals, humans and machines'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maxime Derex
- CNRS, Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, University of Toulouse 1 Capitole, France
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10
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Hong Z. Dream Interpretation from a Cognitive and Cultural Evolutionary Perspective: The Case of Oneiromancy in Traditional China. Cogn Sci 2022; 46:e13088. [DOI: 10.1111/cogs.13088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2021] [Revised: 10/24/2021] [Accepted: 11/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ze Hong
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology Harvard University
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11
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Kelly P, Winters J, Miton H, Morin O. The Predictable Evolution of Letter Shapes. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1086/717779] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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12
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Xu J, Liu C. Acceptance of a COVID-19 Vaccine Before it is Available in China During the Pandemic. Int J Public Health 2021; 66:1604092. [PMID: 34744597 PMCID: PMC8565269 DOI: 10.3389/ijph.2021.1604092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2021] [Accepted: 09/27/2021] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Objectives: China was believed to be the country with the world’s highest acceptance rate of the COVID-19 vaccine following several investigations. This study aims to explore the Chinese acceptance of a COVID-19 vaccine before it is made available, including its determinants. Methods: A cross-national online survey was conducted covering all 31 provinces of mainland China. The survey consists of the demographic variables, acceptance of a self-paid COVID-19 vaccine as the dependent variable, and the 3Cs factors (i.e., confidence, convenience, and complacency) as the independent variables. Results: Among the 1,532 participants, 57.9% accepted to get a self-paid COVID-19 vaccine. COVID-19 vaccine acceptors were more likely to be concerned about the effectiveness of the vaccines, believe that they were at risk of COVID-19 infection, have a high perceived susceptibility of COVID-19, and trust in the health care system. Conclusion: Findings indicate that the critical task in the early stage of the COVID-19 vaccine development in China is to increase the tolerance to some intuitive concerns about the vaccines, put more emphasis on the communication of the saliency of the disease threats, and effectively translate people’s trust in the government into vaccine acceptance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jian Xu
- School of Media and Communication, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.,China Institute for Urban Governance, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.,Institute of Cultural Innovation and Youth Development, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Cong Liu
- School of Media and Communication, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.,Institute of Cultural Innovation and Youth Development, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
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13
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Acerbi A, Charbonneau M, Miton H, Scott-Phillips T. Culture without copying or selection. EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES 2021; 3:e50. [PMID: 37588566 PMCID: PMC10427323 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2021.47] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Typical examples of cultural phenomena all exhibit a degree of similarity across time and space at the level of the population. As such, a fundamental question for any science of culture is, what ensures this stability in the first place? Here we focus on the evolutionary and stabilising role of 'convergent transformation', in which one item causes the production of another item whose form tends to deviate from the original in a directed, non-random way. We present a series of stochastic models of cultural evolution investigating its effects. The results show that cultural stability can emerge and be maintained by virtue of convergent transformation alone, in the absence of any form of copying or selection process. We show how high-fidelity copying and convergent transformation need not be opposing forces, and can jointly contribute to cultural stability. We finally analyse how non-random transformation and high-fidelity copying can have different evolutionary signatures at population level, and hence how their distinct effects can be distinguished in empirical records. Collectively, these results supplement existing approaches to cultural evolution based on the Darwinian analogy, while also providing formal support for other frameworks - such as Cultural Attraction Theory - that entail its further loosening. Social media summary Culture can be produced and maintained by convergent transformation, without copying or selection involved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alberto Acerbi
- Centre for Culture and Evolution, Division of Psychology, Brunel University, London, UB8 3PH, UK
| | - Mathieu Charbonneau
- Faculté de Gouvernance, Sciences Économiques et Sociales, Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique, Rabat-Salé, Morocco
| | - Helena Miton
- Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Rd, Santa Fe, NM87501, US
| | - Thom Scott-Phillips
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Október 6. u. 7, 1051, Hungary
- Department of Anthropology, South Rd, DurhamDH1 3LE, UK
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14
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Mermelstein S, German TC. Counterintuitive Pseudoscience Propagates by Exploiting the Mind's Communication Evaluation Mechanisms. Front Psychol 2021; 12:739070. [PMID: 34675845 PMCID: PMC8523830 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.739070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2021] [Accepted: 09/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Epidemiological models of culture posit that the prevalence of a belief depends in part on the fit between that belief and intuitions generated by the mind's reliably developing architecture. Application of such models to pseudoscience suggests that one route via which these beliefs gain widespread appeal stems from their compatibility with these intuitions. For example, anti-vaccination beliefs are readily adopted because they cohere with intuitions about the threat of contagion. However, other varieties of popular pseudoscience such as astrology and parapsychology contain content that violates intuitions held about objects and people. Here, we propose a pathway by which "counterintuitive pseudoscience" may spread and receive endorsement. Drawing on recent empirical evidence, we suggest that counterintuitive pseudoscience triggers the mind's communication evaluation mechanisms. These mechanisms are hypothesized to quarantine epistemically-suspect information including counterintuitive pseudoscientific concepts. As a consequence, these beliefs may not immediately update conflicting intuitions and may be largely restricted from influencing behavior. Nonetheless, counterintuitive pseudoscientific concepts, when in combination with intuitively appealing content, may differentially draw attention and memory. People may also be motivated to seek further information about these concepts, including by asking others, in an attempt to reconcile them with prior beliefs. This in turn promotes the re-transmission of these ideas. We discuss how, during this information-search, support for counterintuitive pseudoscience may come from deference to apparently authoritative sources, reasoned arguments, and the functional outcomes of these beliefs. Ultimately, these factors promote the cultural success of counterintuitive pseudoscience but explicit endorsement of these concepts may not entail tacit commitment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Spencer Mermelstein
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States
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15
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Strachan JWA, Curioni A, Constable MD, Knoblich G, Charbonneau M. Evaluating the relative contributions of copying and reconstruction processes in cultural transmission episodes. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0256901. [PMID: 34529662 PMCID: PMC8445411 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256901] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2021] [Accepted: 08/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to transmit information between individuals through social learning is a foundational component of cultural evolution. However, how this transmission occurs is still debated. On the one hand, the copying account draws parallels with biological mechanisms for genetic inheritance, arguing that learners copy what they observe and novel variations occur through random copying errors. On the other hand, the reconstruction account claims that, rather than directly copying behaviour, learners reconstruct the information that they believe to be most relevant on the basis of pragmatic inference, environmental and contextual cues. Distinguishing these two accounts empirically is difficult based on data from typical transmission chain studies because the predictions they generate frequently overlap. In this study we present a methodological approach that generates different predictions of these accounts by manipulating the task context between model and learner in a transmission episode. We then report an empirical proof-of-concept that applies this approach. The results show that, when a model introduces context-dependent embedded signals to their actions that are not intended to be transmitted, it is possible to empirically distinguish between competing predictions made by these two accounts. Our approach can therefore serve to understand the underlying cognitive mechanisms at play in cultural transmission and can make important contributions to the debate between preservative and reconstructive schools of thought.
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Affiliation(s)
- James W. A. Strachan
- Cognition, Motion and Neuroscience Unit, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Genoa, Italy
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Vienna, Austria
| | - Arianna Curioni
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Vienna, Austria
| | - Merryn D. Constable
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Vienna, Austria
- Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
| | - Günther Knoblich
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Vienna, Austria
| | - Mathieu Charbonneau
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Vienna, Austria
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16
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Miton H, Sperber D, Hernik M. A Forward Bias in Human Profile-Oriented Portraits. Cogn Sci 2021; 44:e12866. [PMID: 32535972 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2020] [Revised: 05/08/2020] [Accepted: 05/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The spatial composition of human portraits obeys historically changing cultural norms. We show that it is also affected by cognitive factors that cause greater spontaneous attention to what is in front rather in the back of an agent. Scenes with more space in front of a directed object are both more often produced and judged as more aesthetically pleasant. This leads to the prediction that, in profile-oriented human portraits, compositions with more space in front of depicted agents (a "forward bias") should be over-represented. By analyzing a large dataset (total N of 1,831 paintings by 582 unique identified European painters from the 15th to the 20th century), we found evidence of this forward bias: Painters tended to put more free space in front of, rather than behind, the sitters. Additionally, we found evidence that this forward bias became stronger when cultural norms of spatial composition favoring centering became less stringent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helena Miton
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University.,Santa Fe Institute
| | - Dan Sperber
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University
| | - Mikołaj Hernik
- Department of Psychology, UiT The Arctic University of Norway
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18
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Singh M, Acerbi A, Caldwell CA, Danchin É, Isabel G, Molleman L, Scott-Phillips T, Tamariz M, van den Berg P, van Leeuwen EJC, Derex M. Beyond social learning. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200050. [PMID: 33993759 PMCID: PMC8126463 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2020] [Accepted: 01/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Cultural evolution requires the social transmission of information. For this reason, scholars have emphasized social learning when explaining how and why culture evolves. Yet cultural evolution results from many mechanisms operating in concert. Here, we argue that the emphasis on social learning has distracted scholars from appreciating both the full range of mechanisms contributing to cultural evolution and how interactions among those mechanisms and other factors affect the output of cultural evolution. We examine understudied mechanisms and other factors and call for a more inclusive programme of investigation that probes multiple levels of the organization, spanning the neural, cognitive-behavioural and populational levels. To guide our discussion, we focus on factors involved in three core topics of cultural evolution: the emergence of culture, the emergence of cumulative cultural evolution and the design of cultural traits. Studying mechanisms across levels can add explanatory power while revealing gaps and misconceptions in our knowledge. This article is part of the theme issue 'Foundations of cultural evolution'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manvir Singh
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, Toulouse 31015, France
| | - Alberto Acerbi
- Center for Culture and Evolution, Brunel University London, Uxbridge UB8 3PH, UK
| | | | - Étienne Danchin
- Laboratoire Évolution and Diversité Biologique (EDB, UMR5174), Université Fédérale de Toulouse, CNRS, IRD, 31062 Toulouse cedex 9, France
| | - Guillaume Isabel
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Centre de Biologie Intégrative, Université Fédérale de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, 31062 Toulouse cedex 9, France
| | - Lucas Molleman
- Amsterdam Brain and Cognition, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Thom Scott-Phillips
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Budapest 1051, Hungary
| | - Monica Tamariz
- Department of Psychology, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK
| | | | - Edwin J. C. van Leeuwen
- Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
- Centre for Research and Conservation, Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, 2018 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Maxime Derex
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, Toulouse 31015, France
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR 5314, Toulouse 31015, France
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Mesoudi A. Cultural selection and biased transformation: two dynamics of cultural evolution. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200053. [PMID: 33993764 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Here, I discuss two broad versions of human cultural evolution which currently exist in the literature and which emphasize different underlying dynamics. One, which originates in population-genetic-style modelling, emphasizes how cultural selection causes some cultural variants to be favoured and gradually increase in frequency over others. The other, which draws more from cognitive science, holds that cultural change is driven by the biased transformation of cultural variants by individuals in non-random and consistent directions. Despite claims that cultural evolution is characterized by one or the other of these dynamics, these are neither mutually exclusive nor a dichotomy. Different domains of human culture are likely to be more or less strongly weighted towards cultural selection or biased transformation. Identifying cultural dynamics in real-world cultural data is challenging given that they can generate the same population-level patterns, such as directional change or cross-cultural stability, and the same cognitive and emotional mechanisms may underlie both cultural selection and biased transformation. Nevertheless, fine-grained historical analysis and laboratory experiments, combined with formal models to generate quantitative predictions, offer the best way of distinguishing them. This article is part of the theme issue 'Foundations of cultural evolution'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex Mesoudi
- Human Behaviour and Cultural Evolution Group, Biosciences, University of Exeter, Penryn TR10 9FE, UK
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20
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21
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Yeşil Y, İnal İ. Ethnomedicinal Plants of Hasankeyf (Batman-Turkey). Front Pharmacol 2021; 11:624710. [PMID: 33776756 PMCID: PMC7990790 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2020.624710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2020] [Accepted: 12/30/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Hasankeyf is an ancient city, dating back to more than 10,000 years, in the Southeast Anatolia Region of Turkey. The area is separated by the Tigris River on both sides and located in the Batman province. However, as a result of a dam project, in February 2020, this ancient city and some of its surrounding villages were totally flooded. The residents were moved to new settlements. This study aimed to prevent the possible loss of ethnomedicinal knowledge of plants due to migration as well as to pass on this knowledge to the future generations. The field studies were conducted between March 2017 and November 2019 in the city center and 22 rural settlements of Hasankeyf. Also, the areas where intensive migration was experienced were visited frequently. Interviews were conducted with a total of 131 participants (76 women and 55 men) while gathering plants with them. Information was collected through interviews and questionnaires. The results were analyzed by quantitative indices of information consensus factor (FIC) and use value (UV). A total of 94 plant taxa belonging to 40 families were identified in the study area. The most common medicinal plant families are Lamiaceae (13), Asteraceae (8), Rosaceae (6), Malvaceae (6), Amaryllidaceae (5), Brassicaceae (4), and Solanaceae (4). The most common preparations were infusion, fresh application, and crushing. The taxa having the highest count of use value (UV) were Teucrium polium, Matricaria aurea, Urtica dioica, Mentha longifolia, and Quercus brantii. Besides, the recorded ailments were grouped into categories based on information provided by the interviewees. The most important use categories among the informants were diabetes, gastrointestinal disorders, respiratory disorders, and dermatological disorders. The present study represents the first medical-ethnobotanical documentation and analysis of the traditional use of medicinal plants in Hasankeyf.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yeter Yeşil
- Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Botany, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - İlyas İnal
- Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Botany, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
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22
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Lightner AD, Hagen EH. Acculturation and market integration are associated with greater trust among Tanzanian Maasai pastoralists. EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES 2021; 3:e15. [PMID: 37588557 PMCID: PMC10427282 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2021.10] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Acting on socially learned information involves risk, especially when the consequences imply certain costs with uncertain benefits. Current evolutionary theories argue that decision-makers evaluate and respond to this information based on context cues, such as prestige (the prestige bias model) and/or incentives (the risk and incentives model). We tested the roles of each in explaining trust using a preregistered vignette-based study involving advice about livestock among Maasai pastoralists. In exploratory analyses, we also investigated how the relevance of each might be influenced by recent cultural and economic changes, such as market integration and shifting cultural values. Our confirmatory analysis failed to support the prestige bias model, and partially supported the risk and incentives model. Exploratory analyses suggested that regional acculturation varied strongly between northern vs. southern areas, divided by a small mountain. Consistent with the idea that trust varies with socially transmitted values and regional differences in market integration, people living near densely populated towns in the southern region were more likely to trust socially learned information about livestock. Higher trust among market-integrated participants might reflect a coordination solution in a region where traditional pastoralism is beset with novel conflicts of interest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron D. Lightner
- Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
| | - Edward H. Hagen
- Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
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23
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Lukaszewski AW, Lewis DM, Durkee PK, Sell AN, Sznycer D, Buss DM. An Adaptationist Framework for Personality Science. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/per.2292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The field of personality psychology aspires to construct an overarching theory of human nature and individual differences: one that specifies the psychological mechanisms that underpin both universal and variable aspects of thought, emotion, and behaviour. Here, we argue that the adaptationist toolkit of evolutionary psychology provides a powerful meta–theory for characterizing the psychological mechanisms that give rise to within–person, between–person, and cross–cultural variations. We first outline a mechanism–centred adaptationist framework for personality science, which makes a clear ontological distinction between (i) psychological mechanisms designed to generate behavioural decisions and (ii) heuristic trait concepts that function to perceive, describe, and influence others behaviour and reputation in everyday life. We illustrate the utility of the adaptationist framework by reporting three empirical studies. Each study supports the hypothesis that the anger programme—a putative emotional adaptation—is a behaviour–regulating mechanism whose outputs are described in the parlance of the person description factor called ‘Agreeableness’. We conclude that the most productive way forward is to build theory–based models of specific psychological mechanisms, including their culturally evolved design features, until they constitute a comprehensive depiction of human nature and its multifaceted variations. © 2020 European Association of Personality Psychology
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Affiliation(s)
| | - David M.G. Lewis
- School of Psychology and Exercise Science, Murdoch University, Perth, WA Australia
| | - Patrick K. Durkee
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX USA
| | - Aaron N. Sell
- Psychology and Criminology Department, Heidelberg University, Tiffin, OH USA
| | - Daniel Sznycer
- Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC Canada
| | - David M. Buss
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX USA
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24
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Altay S, Claidière N, Mercier H. It happened to a friend of a friend: inaccurate source reporting in rumour diffusion. EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES 2020; 2:e49. [PMID: 37588393 PMCID: PMC10427462 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2020.53] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
People often attribute rumours to an individual in a knowledgeable position two steps removed from them (a credible friend of a friend), such as 'my friend's father, who's a cop, told me about a serial killer in town'. Little is known about the influence of such attributions on rumour propagation, or how they are maintained when the rumour is transmitted. In four studies (N = 1824) participants exposed to a rumour and asked to transmit it overwhelmingly attributed it either to a credible friend of a friend, or to a generic friend (e.g. 'a friend told me about a serial killer in town'). In both cases, participants engaged in source shortening: e.g. when told by a friend that 'a friend told me …' they shared the rumour as coming from 'a friend' instead of 'a friend of friend'. Source shortening and reliance on credible sources boosted rumour propagation by increasing the rumours' perceived plausibility and participants' willingness to share them. Models show that, in linear transmission chains, the generic friend attribution dominates, but that allowing each individual to be exposed to the rumour from several sources enables the maintenance of the credible friend of a friend attribution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sacha Altay
- Institut Jean Nicod, Département d’études cognitives, ENS, EHESS, PSL University, CNRS, Paris, France
| | | | - Hugo Mercier
- Institut Jean Nicod, Département d’études cognitives, ENS, EHESS, PSL University, CNRS, Paris, France
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25
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Miton H, Wolf T, Vesper C, Knoblich G, Sperber D. Motor constraints influence cultural evolution of rhythm. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20202001. [PMID: 33109010 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
While widely acknowledged in the cultural evolution literature, ecological factors-aspects of the physical environment that affect the way in which cultural productions evolve-have not been investigated experimentally. Here, we present an experimental investigation of this type of factor by using a transmission chain (iterated learning) experiment. We predicted that differences in the distance between identical tools (drums) and in the order in which they are to be used would cause the evolution of different rhythms. The evidence confirms our predictions and thus provides a proof of concept that ecological factors-here a motor constraint-can influence cultural productions and that their effects can be experimentally isolated and measured. One noteworthy finding is that ecological factors can on their own lead to more complex rhythms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helena Miton
- Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
| | - Thomas Wolf
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Cordula Vesper
- Department of Linguistics, Cognitive Science, and Semiotics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.,Interacting Minds Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Günther Knoblich
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Dan Sperber
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary
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26
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Wolf T, Sebanz N, Knoblich G. Adaptation to unstable coordination patterns in individual and joint actions. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0232667. [PMID: 32392210 PMCID: PMC7213717 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2019] [Accepted: 04/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous research on interlimb coordination has shown that some coordination patterns are more stable than others, and function as attractors in the space of possible phase relations between different rhythmic movements. The canonical coordination patterns, i.e. the two most stable phase relations, are in-phase (0 degree) and anti-phase (180 degrees). Yet, musicians are able to perform other coordination patterns in intrapersonal as well as in interpersonal coordination with remarkable precision. This raises the question of how music experts manage to produce these unstable patterns of movement coordination. In the current study, we invited participants with at least five years of training on a musical instrument. We used an adaptation paradigm to address two factors that may facilitate producing unstable coordination patterns. First, we investigated adaptation in different coordination settings, to test the hypothesis that the lower coupling strength between individuals during joint performance makes it easier to achieve stability outside of the canonical patterns than the stronger coupling during individual bimanual performance. Second, we investigated whether adding to the structure of action effects may support achieving unstable coordination patterns, both intra- and inter-individually. The structure of action effects was strengthened by adding a melodic contour to the action effects, a measure that has been shown to improve the acquisition of bimanual coordination skills. Adaptation performance was measured both in terms of asynchrony and variability thereof. As predicted, we found that producing unstable patterns benefitted from the weaker coupling during joint performance. Surprisingly, the structure of action effects did not help with achieving unstable coordination patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Wolf
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Natalie Sebanz
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Günther Knoblich
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary
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27
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Mehta RS, Rosenberg NA. Modelling anti-vaccine sentiment as a cultural pathogen. EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES 2020; 2:e21. [PMID: 37588376 PMCID: PMC10427458 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2020.17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Culturally transmitted traits that have deleterious effects on health-related traits can be regarded as cultural pathogens. A cultural pathogen can produce coupled dynamics with its associated health-related traits, so that understanding the dynamics of a health-related trait benefits from consideration of the dynamics of the associated cultural pathogen. Here, we treat anti-vaccine sentiment as a cultural pathogen, modelling its 'infection' dynamics with the infection dynamics of the associated vaccine-preventable disease. In a coupled susceptible-infected-resistant (SIR) model, consisting of an SIR model for the anti-vaccine sentiment and an interacting SIR model for the infectious disease, we explore the effect of anti-vaccine sentiment on disease dynamics. We find that disease endemism is contingent on the presence of the sentiment, and that presence of sentiment can enable diseases to become endemic when they would otherwise have disappeared. Furthermore, the sentiment dynamics can create situations in which the disease suddenly returns after a long period of dormancy. We study the effect of assortative sentiment-based interactions on the dynamics of sentiment and disease, identifying a tradeoff whereby assortative meeting aids the spread of a disease but hinders the spread of sentiment. Our results can contribute to finding strategies that reduce the impact of a cultural pathogen on disease, illuminating the value of cultural evolutionary modelling in the analysis of disease dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rohan S. Mehta
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA94305, USA
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28
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Eriksson K, Strimling P. Using Models to Predict Cultural Evolution From Emotional Selection Mechanisms. EMOTION REVIEW 2019. [DOI: 10.1177/1754073919890914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Cultural variants may spread by being more appealing, more memorable, or less offensive than other cultural variants. Empirical studies suggest that such “emotional selection” is a force to be reckoned with in cultural evolution. We present a research paradigm that is suitable for the study of emotional selection. It guides empirical research by directing attention to the circumstances under which emotions influence the likelihood that an individual will influence another individual to acquire a cultural variant. We present a modeling framework to translate such knowledge into specific and testable predictions of population-level change. A set of already analyzed basic cases can serve as a toolbox.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kimmo Eriksson
- Centre for Cultural Evolution, Stockholm University, Sweden
- School of Education, Culture and Communication, Mälardalen University
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29
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Kashima Y, Bain PG, Perfors A. The Psychology of Cultural Dynamics: What Is It, What Do We Know, and What Is Yet to Be Known? Annu Rev Psychol 2019; 70:499-529. [PMID: 30609914 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-psych-010418-103112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The psychology of cultural dynamics is the psychological investigation of the formation, maintenance, and transformation of culture over time. This article maps out the terrain, reviews the existing literature, and points out potential future directions of this research. It is divided into three parts. The first part focuses on micro-cultural dynamics, which refers to the social and psychological processes that contribute to the dissemination and retention of cultural information. The second part, on micro-macro dynamics, investigates how micro-level processes give rise to macro-cultural dynamics. The third part focuses on macro-cultural dynamics, referring to the distribution and long-term trends involving cultural information in a population, which in turn enable and constrain the micro-level processes. We conclude the review with a consideration of future directions, suggesting behavior change research as translational research on cultural dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoshihisa Kashima
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia;
| | - Paul G Bain
- Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, United Kingdom
| | - Amy Perfors
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia;
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30
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Bloodletting Therapy for Patients with Chronic Urticaria: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. BIOMED RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2019; 2019:8650398. [PMID: 31139656 PMCID: PMC6500668 DOI: 10.1155/2019/8650398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2019] [Accepted: 04/04/2019] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Background Many trials have reported that bloodletting therapy is effective when treating chronic urticaria. There are currently no systematic reviews of bloodletting therapy for chronic urticaria. Objective The aim of this review is to assess the effectiveness and safety of bloodletting therapy for chronic urticaria. Methods A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials were performed. Disease activity control was assessed as the primary outcome. Response rate, recurrence rate, and adverse events were assessed as secondary outcomes. Results Seven studies with 512 participants were included. One trial showed a significant difference between bloodletting therapy plus medicine and medicine alone in disease activity control (MD 0.67; 95% CI 0.03 to 1.31; p=0.04). Six trials (372 participants) showed a significant difference between bloodletting therapy and pharmacological medication in response rate (RR 1.10; 95% CI 0.97-1.26; P =0.15). Two studies (170 participants) showed a significant difference between bloodletting therapy plus pharmacological medication and pharmacological medication in response rate (RR 1.34; 95% CI 1.10-1.63; p=0.003). Two studies (126 participants) reported a statistically significant difference between bloodletting therapy and pharmacological medication in recurrence rate. No serious adverse events related to bloodletting therapy were reported. Conclusions Bloodletting therapy might be an effective and safe treatment for chronic urticaria, but the evidence is scarce. More high quality trials are needed in the future.
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31
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de Barra M, Cownden D, Jansson F. Aversive medical treatments signal a need for support: a mathematical model. EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES 2019; 1:e4. [PMID: 37588405 PMCID: PMC10427312 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2019.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Ineffective, aversive and harmful medical treatments are common cross-culturally, historically and today. Using evolutionary game theory, we develop the following model to explain their persistence. Humans are often incapacitated by illness and injury, and are unusually dependent on care from others during convalescence. However, such caregiving is vulnerable to exploitation via illness deception, whereby people feign or exaggerate illness in order to gain access to care. Our model demonstrates that aversive treatments can counter-intuitively increase the range of conditions where caregiving is evolutionarily viable, because only individuals who stand to gain substantially from care will accept the treatment. Thus, contemporary and historical "ineffective" treatments may be solutions to the problem of allocating care to people whose true need is difficult to discern.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Fredrik Jansson
- Centre for Cultural Evolution, Stockholm University
- Division of Applied Mathematics, Mälardalen University
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32
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Yao Q, Zhang X, Mu Y, Liu Y, An Y, Zhao B. Bloodletting therapy for treating patients with chronic urticaria: A systematic review and meta-analysis protocol. Medicine (Baltimore) 2019; 98:e14541. [PMID: 30762796 PMCID: PMC6408096 DOI: 10.1097/md.0000000000014541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Chronic urticaria is a common disease affecting patients' quality of life, and leading to substantial burden to both patients and society. Many trials have shown that bloodletting therapy is effective in treating chronic urticaria. There are currently no systematic reviews of bloodletting therapy for chronic urticaria. This protocol aims to present the methods used to assess the effectiveness and safety of bloodletting therapy for patients with chronic urticaria. METHODS The following databases will be searched from their inception: the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), PubMed, EMBASE, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), Chinese Scientific Journal Database (VIP database), and Wan-Fang Database. Clinical randomised controlled trials related to bloodletting therapy for treating chronic urticaria will be included, regardless of publication status and languages. Study selection, data collection, and quality assessment will be independently conducted by 2 researchers. For data synthesis, we will select either the fixed-effects or random-effects model according to heterogeneity assessment. Disease activity control will be assessed as the primary outcomes. Response rate, recurrence rate and adverse events will be evaluated as secondary outcomes. If it is appropriate for meta-analysis, RevMan V.5.3 statistical software will be used. Otherwise, a systematic narrative synthesis will be conducted. The results will be presented as risk ratio (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for dichotomous data and weight mean difference (WMD) or standard mean difference (SMD) 95% CIs for continuous data. DISSEMINATION AND ETHICS The protocol of this systematic review will be disseminated in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at relevant conferences. It is not necessary for a formal ethical approval because the data are not individualised. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER PROSPERO CRD42018111143.
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33
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Heintz C, Blancke S, Scott-Phillips T. Methods for studying cultural attraction. Evol Anthropol 2019; 28:18-20. [PMID: 30689252 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21764] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2018] [Revised: 01/01/2019] [Accepted: 01/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Cultural attraction theory (CAT) describes a general evolutionary process, cultural attraction, by which the spread and stability of cultural items (beliefs, practices, artifacts, etc.) result not just from differential reproduction, but also from transformations that systematically favor the reconstruction of cultural items of specific types. In this way, CAT aims to provide a general framework for the study of cultural evolution. In a thoughtful critical analysis, Buskell questions the ability of CAT to provide methodological guidance for research in cultural evolution. Can CAT be used to develop the sort of mid-range theories and models that often drive empirical work? Here we argue that CAT can indeed be used in this way, and we outline the methodological practices that students of cultural attraction have used and are currently developing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christophe Heintz
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Stefaan Blancke
- Department of Philosophy, Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands
| | - Thom Scott-Phillips
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary.,Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
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34
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Buskell A. Looking for middle ground in cultural attraction theory. Evol Anthropol 2019; 28:14-17. [PMID: 30663170 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21762] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2018] [Revised: 11/29/2018] [Accepted: 12/10/2018] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
In their article, Thom Scott-Phillips, Stefaan Blancke, and Christophe Heintz do a commendable job summarizing the position and misunderstandings of "cultural attraction theory" (CAT). However, they do not address a longstanding problem for the CAT framework; that while it has an encompassing theory and some well-worked out case studies, it lacks tools for generating models or empirical hypotheses of intermediate generality. I suggest that what the authors diagnose as misunderstandings are instead superficial interpretive errors, resulting from researchers who have attempted to extract generalizable hypotheses from CAT and bring them into contact with the analytical and inferential models of contemporary cultural evolutionary research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Buskell
- Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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35
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Scott-Phillips T, Blancke S, Heintz C. Four misunderstandings about cultural attraction. Evol Anthropol 2018; 27:162-173. [PMID: 30099809 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21716] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2017] [Revised: 05/12/2018] [Accepted: 06/22/2018] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Cultural attraction theory (CAT) is a research agenda the purpose of which is to develop causal explanations of cultural phenomena. CAT is also an evolutionary approach to culture, in the sense that it treats culture as a population of items of different types, with the frequency of tokens of those types changing over time. Now more than 20 years old, CAT has made many positive contributions, theoretical and empirical, to the naturalization of the social sciences. In consequence of this growing impact, CAT has, in recent years, been the subject of critical discussion. Here, we review and respond to these critiques. In so doing, we also provide a clear and concise introduction to CAT. We give clear characterizations of CAT's key theoretical notions, and we outline how these notions are derived from consideration of the natural character of cultural phenomena (Box ). This naturalistic quality distinguishes CAT from other evolutionary approaches to culture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thom Scott-Phillips
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary
- Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Stefaan Blancke
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary
- Department of Philosophy and Moral Science, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Christophe Heintz
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary
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Han H, Lee K, Soylu F. Simulating outcomes of interventions using a multipurpose simulation program based on the evolutionary causal matrices and Markov chain. Knowl Inf Syst 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s10115-017-1151-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Blaine T, Boyer P. Origins of sinister rumors: A preference for threat-related material in the supply and demand of information. EVOL HUM BEHAV 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2017.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Mesoudi A. Pursuing Darwin's curious parallel: Prospects for a science of cultural evolution. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017; 114:7853-7860. [PMID: 28739929 PMCID: PMC5544269 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1620741114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
In the past few decades, scholars from several disciplines have pursued the curious parallel noted by Darwin between the genetic evolution of species and the cultural evolution of beliefs, skills, knowledge, languages, institutions, and other forms of socially transmitted information. Here, I review current progress in the pursuit of an evolutionary science of culture that is grounded in both biological and evolutionary theory, but also treats culture as more than a proximate mechanism that is directly controlled by genes. Both genetic and cultural evolution can be described as systems of inherited variation that change over time in response to processes such as selection, migration, and drift. Appropriate differences between genetic and cultural change are taken seriously, such as the possibility in the latter of nonrandomly guided variation or transformation, blending inheritance, and one-to-many transmission. The foundation of cultural evolution was laid in the late 20th century with population-genetic style models of cultural microevolution, and the use of phylogenetic methods to reconstruct cultural macroevolution. Since then, there have been major efforts to understand the sociocognitive mechanisms underlying cumulative cultural evolution, the consequences of demography on cultural evolution, the empirical validity of assumed social learning biases, the relative role of transformative and selective processes, and the use of quantitative phylogenetic and multilevel selection models to understand past and present dynamics of society-level change. I conclude by highlighting the interdisciplinary challenges of studying cultural evolution, including its relation to the traditional social sciences and humanities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex Mesoudi
- Human Biological and Cultural Evolution Group, Department of Biosciences, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE, United Kingdom
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Mercier H. How Gullible are We? A Review of the Evidence from Psychology and Social Science. REVIEW OF GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY 2017. [DOI: 10.1037/gpr0000111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
A long tradition of scholarship, from ancient Greece to Marxism or some contemporary social psychology, portrays humans as strongly gullible—wont to accept harmful messages by being unduly deferent. However, if humans are reasonably well adapted, they should not be strongly gullible: they should be vigilant toward communicated information. Evidence from experimental psychology reveals that humans are equipped with well-functioning mechanisms of epistemic vigilance. They check the plausibility of messages against their background beliefs, calibrate their trust as a function of the source's competence and benevolence, and critically evaluate arguments offered to them. Even if humans are equipped with well-functioning mechanisms of epistemic vigilance, an adaptive lag might render them gullible in the face of new challenges, from clever marketing to omnipresent propaganda. I review evidence from different cultural domains often taken as proof of strong gullibility: religion, demagoguery, propaganda, political campaigns, advertising, erroneous medical beliefs, and rumors. Converging evidence reveals that communication is much less influential than often believed—that religious proselytizing, propaganda, advertising, and so forth are generally not very effective at changing people's minds. Beliefs that lead to costly behavior are even less likely to be accepted. Finally, it is also argued that most cases of acceptance of misguided communicated information do not stem from undue deference, but from a fit between the communicated information and the audience's preexisting beliefs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hugo Mercier
- CNRS, Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod
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Lerique S, Roth C. The Semantic Drift of Quotations in Blogspace: A Case Study in Short-Term Cultural Evolution. Cogn Sci 2017; 42:188-219. [DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2015] [Revised: 08/23/2016] [Accepted: 02/09/2017] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sébastien Lerique
- Center for Social Analysis and Mathematics; CNRS and EHESS
- Centre Marc Bloch Berlin e.V
| | - Camille Roth
- Centre Marc Bloch Berlin e.V
- Sciences Po, médialab
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Scott-Phillips TC. A (Simple) Experimental Demonstration that Cultural Evolution is not Replicative, but Reconstructive — and an Explanation of Why this Difference Matters. JOURNAL OF COGNITION AND CULTURE 2017. [DOI: 10.1163/15685373-12342188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Two complementary approaches to a naturalistic theory of culture are, on the one hand, mainstream cultural evolution research, and, on the other, work done under the banners of cultural attraction and the epidemiology of representations. There is much agreement between these two schools of thought, including in particular a commitment to population thinking. Both schools also acknowledge that the propagation of culture is not simply a matter of replication, but rather one of reconstruction. However, the two schools of thought differ on the relative importance of this point. The cultural attraction school believes it to be fundamental to genuinely causal explanations of culture. In contrast, most mainstream cultural evolution thinking abstracts away from it. In this paper I make flesh a simple thought experiment (first proposed by Dan Sperber) that directly contrasts the effects that replication and reconstruction have on cultural items. Results demonstrate, in a simple and graphic way, that (i) normal cultural propagation is not replicative, but reconstructive, and (ii) that these two different modes of propagation afford two qualitatively different explanations of stability. If propagation is replicative, as it is in biology, then stability arises from the fidelity of that replication, and hence an explanation of stability comes from an explanation of how and why this high-fidelity is achieved. If, on the other hand, propagation is reconstructive (as it is in culture), then stability arises from the fact that a subclass of cultural types are easily re-producible, while others are not, and hence an explanation of stability comes from a description of what types are easily re-producible, and an explanation of why they are. I discuss two implications of this result for research at the intersection of evolution, cognition, and culture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas C. Scott-Phillips
- Evolutionary Anthropology Research Group, Department of Anthropology, Durham UniversityDawson Building, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LEUK
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Acerbi A. A Cultural Evolution Approach to Digital Media. Front Hum Neurosci 2016; 10:636. [PMID: 28018200 PMCID: PMC5156828 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00636] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2016] [Accepted: 11/29/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Digital media have today an enormous diffusion, and their influence on the behavior of a vast part of the human population can hardly be underestimated. In this review I propose that cultural evolution theory, including both a sophisticated view of human behavior and a methodological attitude to modeling and quantitative analysis, provides a useful framework to study the effects and the developments of media in the digital age. I will first give a general presentation of the cultural evolution framework, and I will then introduce this more specific research program with two illustrative topics. The first topic concerns how cultural transmission biases, that is, simple heuristics such as “copy prestigious individuals” or “copy the majority,” operate in the novel context of digital media. The existence of transmission biases is generally justified with their adaptivity in small-scale societies. How do they operate in an environment where, for example, prestigious individuals possess not-relevant skills, or popularity is explicitly quantified and advertised? The second aspect relates to fidelity of cultural transmission. Digitally-mediated interactions support cheap and immediate high-fidelity transmission, in opposition, for example, to oral traditions. How does this change the content that is more likely to spread? Overall, I suggest the usefulness of a “long view” to our contemporary digital environment, contextualized in cognitive science and cultural evolution theory, and I discuss how this perspective could help us to understand what is genuinely new and what is not.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alberto Acerbi
- School of Innovation Science, Eindhoven University of Technology Eindhoven, Netherlands
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Han H, Lee K, Soylu F. Predicting long-term outcomes of educational interventions using the evolutionary causal matrices and Markov chain based on educational neuroscience. Trends Neurosci Educ 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tine.2016.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Cognitive Obstacles to Pro-Vaccination Beliefs. Trends Cogn Sci 2015; 19:633-636. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2015.08.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2015] [Revised: 08/07/2015] [Accepted: 08/12/2015] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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