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Olsson H, Galesic M. Analogies for modeling belief dynamics. Trends Cogn Sci 2024:S1364-6613(24)00172-4. [PMID: 39069399 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2024.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2023] [Revised: 07/03/2024] [Accepted: 07/05/2024] [Indexed: 07/30/2024]
Abstract
Belief dynamics has an important role in shaping our responses to natural and societal phenomena, ranging from climate change and pandemics to immigration and conflicts. Researchers often base their models of belief dynamics on analogies to other systems and processes, such as epidemics or ferromagnetism. Similar to other analogies, analogies for belief dynamics can help scientists notice and study properties of belief systems that they would not have noticed otherwise (conceptual mileage). However, forgetting the origins of an analogy may lead to some less appropriate inferences about belief dynamics (conceptual baggage). Here, we review various analogies for modeling belief dynamics, discuss their mileage and baggage, and offer recommendations for using analogies in model development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Henrik Olsson
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA; Complexity Science Hub, 1080 Vienna, Austria.
| | - Mirta Galesic
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA; Complexity Science Hub, 1080 Vienna, Austria; Vermont Complex Systems Center, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA.
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2
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Chen D, Xia T, Yao Z, Zhang L, Hu X. Modulating social learning-induced evaluation updating during human sleep. NPJ SCIENCE OF LEARNING 2024; 9:43. [PMID: 38971834 PMCID: PMC11227583 DOI: 10.1038/s41539-024-00255-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2023] [Accepted: 06/13/2024] [Indexed: 07/08/2024]
Abstract
People often change their evaluations upon learning about their peers' evaluations, i.e., social learning. Given sleep's vital role in consolidating daytime experiences, sleep may facilitate social learning, thereby further changing people's evaluations. Combining a social learning task and the sleep-based targeted memory reactivation technique, we asked whether social learning-induced evaluation updating can be modulated during sleep. After participants had indicated their initial evaluation of snacks, they learned about their peers' evaluations while hearing the snacks' spoken names. During the post-learning non-rapid-eye-movement sleep, we re-played half of the snack names (i.e., cued snack) to reactivate the associated peers' evaluations. Upon waking up, we found that the social learning-induced evaluation updating further enlarged for both cued and uncued snacks. Examining sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) activity revealed that cue-elicited delta-theta EEG power and the overnight N2 sleep spindle density predicted post-sleep evaluation updating for cued but not for uncued snacks. These findings underscore the role of sleep-mediated memory reactivation and the associated neural activity in supporting social learning-induced evaluation updating.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danni Chen
- Department of Psychology, The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Tao Xia
- Department of Psychology, The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Ziqing Yao
- Department of Psychology, The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Lingqi Zhang
- Department of Psychology, The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Xiaoqing Hu
- Department of Psychology, The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
- HKU-Shenzhen Institute of Research and Innovation, Shenzhen, China.
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3
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Tao B, Wang C. Promoting distributed photovoltaic adoption: An evolutionary game model approach for stakeholder coordination. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0302241. [PMID: 38905304 PMCID: PMC11192349 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2023] [Accepted: 03/29/2024] [Indexed: 06/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Distributed photovoltaic (DPV) is a promising solution to climate change. However, the widespread adoption of DPV faces challenges, such as high upfront costs, regulatory barriers, and market uncertainty. Addressing these barriers requires coordinating the interests of stakeholders in the promotion of DPV. Therefore, this paper constructs a three-party evolutionary game model in a social network with the government, investment companies and residents as the main subjects and examines the influence of different subjects' behavioral strategies on the promotion of DPV under the social learning mechanism. The results show that: (1) In the game equilibrium, both the government and residents hold a positive attitude towards the promotion of DPV; (2) Companies will obtain most of the subsidies through market power and information differences, resulting in the increase of government subsidies that do not always benefit residents; (3) The increase of energy consumption and pollution prevention costs can promote companies' investment in DPV; (4) The increase of environmental protection taxes to a certain extent helps companies to take responsibility for promoting DPV, reducing the pressure on the government to promote it and increasing residents' income. This study provides insights into the sustainable development of DPV.
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Affiliation(s)
- Biao Tao
- School of Electrical and Electronic Information Engineering, Hubei Polytechnic University, Wuhan, China
| | - Can Wang
- School of Economics and Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
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4
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Ueshima A, Jones MI, Christakis NA. Simple autonomous agents can enhance creative semantic discovery by human groups. Nat Commun 2024; 15:5212. [PMID: 38890368 PMCID: PMC11189566 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49528-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2023] [Accepted: 06/07/2024] [Indexed: 06/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Innovation is challenging, and theory and experiments indicate that groups may be better able to identify and preserve innovations than individuals. But innovation within groups faces its own challenges, including groupthink and truncated diffusion. We performed experiments involving a game in which people search for ideas in various conditions: alone, in networked social groups, or in networked groups featuring autonomous agents (bots). The objective was to search a semantic space of 20,000 nouns with defined similarities for an arbitrary noun with the highest point value. Participants (N = 1875) were embedded in networks (n = 125) of 15 nodes to which we sometimes added 2 bots. The bots had 3 possible strategies: they shared a random noun generated by their immediate neighbors, or a noun most similar from among those identified, or a noun least similar. We first confirm that groups are better able to explore a semantic space than isolated individuals. Then we show that when bots that share the most similar noun operate in groups facing a semantic space that is relatively easy to navigate, group performance is superior. Simple autonomous agents with interpretable behavior can affect the capacity for creative discovery of human groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Atsushi Ueshima
- Yale Institute for Network Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Department of Sociology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan
- Department of Human Sciences, Faculty of Letters, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Matthew I Jones
- Yale Institute for Network Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Department of Sociology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Sunwater Institute, North Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Nicholas A Christakis
- Yale Institute for Network Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
- Department of Sociology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
- Department of Statistics and Data Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
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5
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van den Berg P, Vu T, Molleman L. Unpredictable benefits of social information can lead to the evolution of individual differences in social learning. Nat Commun 2024; 15:5138. [PMID: 38879619 PMCID: PMC11180142 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49530-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2023] [Accepted: 06/07/2024] [Indexed: 06/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Human ecological success is often attributed to our capacity for social learning, which facilitates the spread of adaptive behaviours through populations. All humans rely on social learning to acquire culture, but there is substantial variation across societies, between individuals and over developmental time. However, it is unclear why these differences exist. Here, we present an evolutionary model showing that individual variation in social learning can emerge if the benefits of social learning are unpredictable. Unpredictability selects for flexible developmental programmes that allow individuals to update their reliance on social learning based on previous experiences. This developmental flexibility, in turn, causes some individuals in a population to end up consistently relying more heavily on social learning than others. We demonstrate this core evolutionary mechanism across three scenarios of increasing complexity, investigating the impact of different sources of uncertainty about the usefulness of social learning. Our results show how evolution can shape how individuals learn to learn from others, with potentially profound effects on cultural diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pieter van den Berg
- KU Leuven, Department of Biology, Leuven, Belgium.
- KU Leuven, Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems, Leuven, Belgium.
| | - TuongVan Vu
- Department of Clinical, Neuro-, & Developmental Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Lucas Molleman
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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6
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Westra E, Fitzpatrick S, Brosnan SF, Gruber T, Hobaiter C, Hopper LM, Kelly D, Krupenye C, Luncz LV, Theriault J, Andrews K. In search of animal normativity: a framework for studying social norms in non-human animals. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2024; 99:1058-1074. [PMID: 38268182 PMCID: PMC11078603 DOI: 10.1111/brv.13056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2023] [Revised: 01/13/2024] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 01/26/2024]
Abstract
Social norms - rules governing which behaviours are deemed appropriate or inappropriate within a given community - are typically taken to be uniquely human. Recently, this position has been challenged by a number of philosophers, cognitive scientists, and ethologists, who have suggested that social norms may also be found in certain non-human animal communities. Such claims have elicited considerable scepticism from norm cognition researchers, who doubt that any non-human animals possess the psychological capacities necessary for normative cognition. However, there is little agreement among these researchers about what these psychological prerequisites are. This makes empirical study of animal social norms difficult, since it is not clear what we are looking for and thus what should count as behavioural evidence for the presence (or absence) of social norms in animals. To break this impasse, we offer an approach that moves beyond contested psychological criteria for social norms. This approach is inspired by the animal culture research program, which has made a similar shift away from heavily psychological definitions of 'culture' to become organised around a cluster of more empirically tractable concepts of culture. Here, we propose an analogous set of constructs built around the core notion of a normative regularity, which we define as a socially maintained pattern of behavioural conformity within a community. We suggest methods for studying potential normative regularities in wild and captive primates. We also discuss the broader scientific and philosophical implications of this research program with respect to questions of human uniqueness, animal welfare and conservation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evan Westra
- Department of Philosophy, Purdue University, 100 N. University Street, West Lafayette, IN, 47905, USA
| | - Simon Fitzpatrick
- Department of Philosophy, John Carroll University, 1 John Carroll Boulevard, University Heights, Ohio 44118, USA
| | - Sarah F. Brosnan
- Departments of Psychology & Philosophy, Neuroscience Institute, Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, and the Language Research Center, Georgia State University, Georgia State University, Dept of Psychology, PO Box 5010, Atlanta, GA 30302-5010 USA
| | - Thibaud Gruber
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, and Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, Campus Biotech - University of Geneva, Chemin des Mines 9, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Catherine Hobaiter
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Mary’s Quad, South St, Fife KY16 9JP, Scotland
| | - Lydia M. Hopper
- Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 720 Rutland Ave, Baltimore, Maryland, 21205, USA
| | - Daniel Kelly
- Department of Philosophy, Purdue University, 100 N. University Street, West Lafayette, IN, 47905, USA
| | - Christopher Krupenye
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
| | - Lydia V. Luncz
- Technological Primates Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jordan Theriault
- Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Suite 2301, 149 Thirteenth Street, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
| | - Kristin Andrews
- Department of Philosophy, York University, S448 Ross Building, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada
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Chimento M, Aplin LM. Understanding the Role of Naive Learners in Cultural Change. Am Nat 2024; 203:695-712. [PMID: 38781528 DOI: 10.1086/730110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
AbstractA change to a population's social network is a change to the substrate of cultural transmission, affecting behavioral diversity and adaptive cultural evolution. While features of network structure such as population size and density have been well studied, less is understood about the influence of social processes such as population turnover-or the repeated replacement of individuals by naive individuals. Experimental data have led to the hypothesis that naive learners can drive cultural evolution by better assessing the relative value of behaviors, although this hypothesis has been expressed only verbally. We conducted a formal exploration of this hypothesis using a generative model that concurrently simulated its two key ingredients: social transmission and reinforcement learning. We simulated competition between high- and low-reward behaviors while varying turnover magnitude and tempo. Variation in turnover influenced changes in the distributions of cultural behaviors, irrespective of initial knowledge-state conditions. We found optimal turnover regimes that amplified the production of higher reward behaviors through two key mechanisms: repertoire composition and enhanced valuation by agents that knew both behaviors. These effects depended on network and learning parameters. Our model provides formal theoretical support for, and predictions about, the hypothesis that naive learners can shape cultural change through their enhanced sampling ability. By moving from experimental data to theory, we illuminate an underdiscussed generative process that can lead to changes in cultural behavior, arising from an interaction between social dynamics and learning.
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8
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Peng M, Duan Q, Yang X, Tang R, Zhang L, Zhang H, Li X. The influence of social feedback on reward learning in the Iowa gambling task. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1292808. [PMID: 38756493 PMCID: PMC11098015 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1292808] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2023] [Accepted: 04/17/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Learning, an important activity for both human and animals, has long been a focal point of research. During the learning process, subjects assimilate not only their own information but also information from others, a phenomenon known as social learning. While numerous studies have explored the impact of social feedback as a reward/punishment during learning, few studies have investigated whether social feedback facilitates or inhibits the learning of environmental rewards/punishments. This study aims to test the effects of social feedback on economic feedback and its cognitive processes by using the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). One hundred ninety-two participants were recruited and categorized into one non-social feedback group and four social feedback groups. Participants in the social feedback groups were informed that after the outcome of each choice, they would also receive feedback from an online peer. This peer was a fictitious entity, with variations in identity (novice or expert) and feedback type (random or effective). The Outcome-Representation Learning model (ORL model) was used to quantify the cognitive components of learning. Behavioral results showed that both the identity of the peer and the type of feedback provided significantly influenced the deck selection, with effective social feedback increasing the ratio of chosen good decks. Results in the ORL model showed that the four social feedback groups exhibited lower learning rates for gain and loss compared to the nonsocial feedback group, which suggested, in the social feedback groups, the impact of the recent outcome on the update of value decreased. Parameters such as forgetfulness, win frequency, and deck perseverance in the expert-effective feedback group were significantly higher than those in the non-social feedback and expert-random feedback groups. These findings suggest that individuals proactively evaluate feedback providers and selectively adopt effective feedback to enhance learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming Peng
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education, Wuhan, China
- School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
- Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, Wuhan, China
| | - Qiaochu Duan
- School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
| | - Xiaoying Yang
- School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
| | - Rui Tang
- School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
| | - Lei Zhang
- Centre for Human Brain Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
- Institute for Mental Health, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Hanshu Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education, Wuhan, China
- School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
- Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, Wuhan, China
| | - Xu Li
- Key Laboratory of Adolescent Cyberpsychology and Behavior (CCNU), Ministry of Education, Wuhan, China
- School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
- Key Laboratory of Human Development and Mental Health of Hubei Province, Wuhan, China
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9
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Chai Q, Yin J, Shen M, He J. Act generously when others do so: Majority influence on young children's sharing behavior. Dev Sci 2024; 27:e13472. [PMID: 38197517 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2023] [Revised: 12/08/2023] [Accepted: 12/16/2023] [Indexed: 01/11/2024]
Abstract
Children's sharing behavior is profoundly shaped by social norms within their society, and they can learn these norms by directly observing how most others share in their immediate environment. Here we systematically investigated the impact of majority influence on the sharing behavior of young Chinese children through three studies (N = 336, 168 girls). Four- and 6-year-olds were allowed to choose 10 favorite stickers and had an opportunity to engage in anonymous sharing. Before making the sharing decision, children were assigned to one of two conditions: watching a video in which three peers all shared 8 out of 10 stickers (i.e., the majority sharing condition) or making their decisions without watching the video (i.e., the control condition). Results showed that both the 4- and 6-year-old children shared more stickers in the majority sharing condition than in the control condition (Studies 1 & 2). Moreover, the influence of the majority had a stronger effect compared to the influence of a single role model. Children shared more stickers after observing three peers sharing, compared to watching one peer sharing three times (Study 2). Furthermore, children were less likely to copy the majority's non-sharing behavior when it came to giving away stickers without prosocial outcomes, which was particularly evident among 4-year-olds (Study 3). The results reveal that majority influence uniquely shapes children's sharing behavior and that children selectively follow the majority based on whether the behavior exhibits prosocial attributes. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://youtu.be/8qNNhf9754I?si=7YfpaFpcD_IjlXjJ RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Observing a majority of three peers' unanimous generous sharing promoted sharing behavior in both 4- and 6-year-olds. The influence of three peers on children's sharing was stronger than that of one peer sharing three times. Four-year-olds, but not 6-year-olds, did not copy the non-sharing behavior of the majority as it did not lead to prosocial outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiao Chai
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jun Yin
- Department of Psychology, Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
| | - Mowei Shen
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jie He
- Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
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10
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van Leeuwen EJC, DeTroy SE, Haun DBM, Call J. Chimpanzees use social information to acquire a skill they fail to innovate. Nat Hum Behav 2024; 8:891-902. [PMID: 38448718 PMCID: PMC11132989 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-024-01836-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2023] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024]
Abstract
Cumulative cultural evolution has been claimed to be a uniquely human phenomenon pivotal to the biological success of our species. One plausible condition for cumulative cultural evolution to emerge is individuals' ability to use social learning to acquire know-how that they cannot easily innovate by themselves. It has been suggested that chimpanzees may be capable of such know-how social learning, but this assertion remains largely untested. Here we show that chimpanzees use social learning to acquire a skill that they failed to independently innovate. By teaching chimpanzees how to solve a sequential task (one chimpanzee in each of the two tested groups, n = 66) and using network-based diffusion analysis, we found that 14 naive chimpanzees learned to operate a puzzle box that they failed to operate during the preceding three months of exposure to all necessary materials. In conjunction, we present evidence for the hypothesis that social learning in chimpanzees is necessary and sufficient to acquire a new, complex skill after the initial innovation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edwin J C van Leeuwen
- Animal Behaviour and Cognition, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
- Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
- Centre for Research and Conservation, Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
| | - Sarah E DeTroy
- Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Daniel B M Haun
- Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Josep Call
- School of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
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11
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Watson R, Morgan TJH, Kendal RL, Van de Vyver J, Kendal J. Investigating the effects of social information on spite in an online game. EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES 2024; 6:e26. [PMID: 38689896 PMCID: PMC11058593 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2024.18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2023] [Revised: 12/15/2023] [Accepted: 03/27/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024] Open
Abstract
While humans are highly cooperative, they can also behave spitefully. Yet spite remains understudied. Spite can be normatively driven and while previous experiments have found some evidence that cooperation and punishment may spread via social learning, no experiments have considered the social transmission of spiteful behaviour. Here we present an online experiment where, following an opportunity to earn wealth, we asked participants to choose an action towards an anonymous partner across a full spectrum of social behaviour, from spite to altruism. In accordance with cultural evolutionary theory, participants were presented with social information that varied in source and content. Across six conditions, we informed participants that either the majority or the highest earner had chosen to behave spitefully, neutrally or altruistically. We found an overall tendency towards altruism, but at lower levels among those exposed to spite compared with altruism. We found no difference between social information that came from the majority or the highest earner. Exploratory analysis revealed that participants' earnings negatively correlated with altruistic behaviour. Our results contrast with previous literature that report high rates of spite in experimental samples and a greater propensity for individuals to copy successful individuals over the majority.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robin Watson
- Durham Cultural Evolution Research Centre, Anthropology Department, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
- Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Dawson Building, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
| | - Thomas J. H. Morgan
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, 900 South Cady Mall, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
- Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, 777 E University Drive, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
| | - Rachel L. Kendal
- Durham Cultural Evolution Research Centre, Anthropology Department, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
- Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Dawson Building, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
| | - Julie Van de Vyver
- Psychology Department, Durham University, Upper Mountjoy, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
| | - Jeremy Kendal
- Durham Cultural Evolution Research Centre, Anthropology Department, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
- Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Dawson Building, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
- Durham Research Methods Centre, Faculty of Social Sciences & Health Arthur Holmes Building, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
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12
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Zurek N, Aljadeff N, Khoury D, Aplin LM, Lotem A. Social demonstration of colour preference improves the learning of associated demonstrated actions. Anim Cogn 2024; 27:31. [PMID: 38592559 PMCID: PMC11004050 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01865-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2023] [Revised: 03/07/2024] [Accepted: 03/07/2024] [Indexed: 04/10/2024]
Abstract
We studied how different types of social demonstration improve house sparrows' (Passer domesticus) success in solving a foraging task that requires both operant learning (opening covers) and discrimination learning (preferring covers of the rewarding colour). We provided learners with either paired demonstration (of both cover opening and colour preference), action-only demonstration (of opening white covers only), or no demonstration (a companion bird eating without covers). We found that sparrows failed to learn the two tasks with no demonstration, and learned them best with a paired demonstration. Interestingly, the action of cover opening was learned faster with paired rather than action-only demonstration despite being equally demonstrated in both. We also found that only with paired demonstration, the speed of operant (action) learning was related to the demonstrator's level of activity. Colour preference (i.e. discrimination learning) was eventually acquired by all sparrows that learned to open covers, even without social demonstration of colour preference. Thus, adding a demonstration of colour preference was actually more important for operant learning, possibly as a result of increasing the similarity between the demonstrated and the learned tasks, thereby increasing the learner's attention to the actions of the demonstrator. Giving more attention to individuals in similar settings may be an adaptive strategy directing social learners to focus on ecologically relevant behaviours and on tasks that are likely to be learned successfully.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noam Zurek
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Na'ama Aljadeff
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Donya Khoury
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Lucy M Aplin
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - Arnon Lotem
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
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13
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McLoughlin KL, Brady WJ. Human-algorithm interactions help explain the spread of misinformation. Curr Opin Psychol 2024; 56:101770. [PMID: 38128169 DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2023.101770] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2023] [Revised: 11/16/2023] [Accepted: 11/21/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023]
Abstract
Human attention biases toward moral and emotional information are as prevalent online as they are offline. When these biases interact with content algorithms that curate social media users' news feeds to maximize attentional capture, moral and emotional information are privileged in the online information ecosystem. We review evidence for these human-algorithm interactions and argue that misinformation exploits this process to spread online. This framework suggests that interventions aimed at combating misinformation require a dual-pronged approach that combines person-centered and design-centered interventions to be most effective. We suggest several avenues for research in the psychological study of misinformation sharing under a framework of human-algorithm interaction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Killian L McLoughlin
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, United States; School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, United States
| | - William J Brady
- Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, United States.
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14
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Henrich J, Muthukrishna M. What Makes Us Smart? Top Cogn Sci 2024; 16:322-342. [PMID: 37086053 DOI: 10.1111/tops.12656] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2022] [Revised: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 04/05/2023] [Indexed: 04/23/2023]
Abstract
How did humans become clever enough to live in nearly every major ecosystem on earth, create vaccines against deadly plagues, explore the oceans depths, and routinely traverse the globe at 30,000 feet in aluminum tubes while nibbling on roasted almonds? Drawing on recent developments in our understanding of human evolution, we consider what makes us distinctively smarter than other animals. Contrary to conventional wisdom, human brilliance emerges not from our innate brainpower or raw computational capacities, but from the sharing of information in communities and networks over generations. We review how larger, more diverse, and more optimally interconnected networks of minds give rise to faster innovation and how the cognitive products of this cumulative cultural evolutionary process feedback to make us individually "smarter"-in the sense of being better at meeting the challenges and problems posed by our societies and socioecologies. Here, we consider not only how cultural evolution supplies us with "thinking tools" (like counting systems and fractions) but also how it has shaped our ontologies (e.g., do germs and witches exist?) and epistemologies, including our notions of what constitutes a "good reason" or "good evidence" (e.g., are dreams a source of evidence?). Building on this, we consider how cultural evolution has organized and distributed cultural knowledge and cognitive tasks among subpopulations, effectively shifting both thinking and production to the level of the community, population, or network, resulting in collective information processing and group decisions. Cultural evolution can turn mindless mobs into wise crowds by facilitating and constraining cognition through a wide variety of epistemic institutions-political, legal, and scientific. These institutions process information and aid better decision-making by suppressing or encouraging the use of different cultural epistemologies and ontologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Henrich
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University
| | - Michael Muthukrishna
- Department of Psychological and Behavioral Science, London School of Economics and Political Science
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15
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Steiglechner P, Keijzer MA, E. Smaldino P, Moser D, Merico A. Noise and opinion dynamics: how ambiguity promotes pro-majority consensus in the presence of confirmation bias. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2024; 11:231071. [PMID: 38660596 PMCID: PMC11040247 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.231071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2023] [Revised: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
Opinion dynamics are affected by cognitive biases and noise. While mathematical models have focused extensively on biases, we still know surprisingly little about how noise shapes opinion patterns. Here, we use an agent-based opinion dynamics model to investigate the interplay between confirmation bias-represented as bounded confidence-and different types of noise. After analysing where noise can enter social interaction, we propose a type of noise that has not been discussed so far, ambiguity noise. While previously considered types of noise acted on agents either before, after or independent of social interaction, ambiguity noise acts on communicated messages, assuming that socially transmitted opinions are inherently noisy. We find that noise can induce agreement when confirmation bias is moderate, but different types of noise require quite different conditions for this effect to occur. An application of our model to the climate change debate shows that at just the right mix of confirmation bias and ambiguity noise, opinions tend to converge to high levels of climate change concern. This result is not observed with the other types. Our findings highlight the importance of considering and distinguishing between the various types of noise and the unique role of ambiguity in opinion formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Steiglechner
- Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Bremen, Germany
- Constructor University, Bremen, Germany
| | - Marijn A. Keijzer
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, Toulouse School of Economics, Toulouse, France
| | - Paul E. Smaldino
- Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California Merced, Merced, CA, USA
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, USA
| | - Deyshawn Moser
- Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Bremen, Germany
- Constructor University, Bremen, Germany
| | - Agostino Merico
- Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Bremen, Germany
- Constructor University, Bremen, Germany
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16
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Efferson C, Ehret S, von Flüe L, Vogt S. When norm change hurts. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20230039. [PMID: 38244606 PMCID: PMC10799740 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Accepted: 11/21/2023] [Indexed: 01/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Applied cultural evolution includes any effort to mobilize social learning and cultural evolution to promote behaviour change. Social tipping is one version of this idea based on conformity and coordination. Conformity and coordination can reinforce a harmful social norm, but they can also accelerate change from a harmful norm to a beneficial alternative. Perhaps unfortunately, the link between the size of an intervention and social tipping is complex in heterogeneous populations. A small intervention targeted at one segment of society can induce tipping better than a large intervention targeted at a different segment. We develop and examine two models showing that the link between social tipping and social welfare is also complex in heterogeneous populations. An intervention strategy that creates persistent miscoordination, exactly the opposite of tipping, can lead to higher social welfare than another strategy that leads to tipping. We show that the potential benefits of miscoordination often hinge specifically on the preferences of people most resistant to behaviour change. Altogether, ordinary forms of heterogeneity complicate applied cultural evolution considerably. Heterogeneity weakens both the link between the size of a social planner's intervention and behaviour change and the link between behaviour change and the well-being of society. This article is part of the theme issue 'Social norm change: drivers and consequences'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles Efferson
- University of Lausanne, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Sönke Ehret
- University of Lausanne, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Lukas von Flüe
- University of Lausanne, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Sonja Vogt
- University of Lausanne, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
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17
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Smaldino PE, Moser C, Pérez Velilla A, Werling M. Maintaining Transient Diversity Is a General Principle for Improving Collective Problem Solving. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2024; 19:454-464. [PMID: 37369100 PMCID: PMC10913329 DOI: 10.1177/17456916231180100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/29/2023]
Abstract
Humans regularly solve complex problems in cooperative teams. A wide range of mechanisms have been identified that improve the quality of solutions achieved by those teams on reaching consensus. We argue that many of these mechanisms work via increasing the transient diversity of solutions while the group attempts to reach a consensus. These mechanisms can operate at the level of individual psychology (e.g., behavioral inertia), interpersonal communication (e.g., transmission noise), or group structure (e.g., sparse social networks). Transient diversity can be increased by widening the search space of possible solutions or by slowing the diffusion of information and delaying consensus. All of these mechanisms increase the quality of the solution at the cost of increased time to reach it. We review specific mechanisms that facilitate transient diversity and synthesize evidence from both empirical studies and diverse formal models-including multiarmed bandits, NK landscapes, cumulative-innovation models, and evolutionary-transmission models. Apparent exceptions to this principle occur primarily when problems are sufficiently simple that they can be solved by mere trial and error or when the incentives of team members are insufficiently aligned. This work has implications for our understanding of collective intelligence, problem solving, innovation, and cumulative cultural evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul E. Smaldino
- Department of Cognitive & Information Sciences, University of California, Merced
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico
| | - Cody Moser
- Department of Cognitive & Information Sciences, University of California, Merced
| | | | - Mikkel Werling
- Department of Cognitive & Information Sciences, University of California, Merced
- Interacting Minds Centre, Aarhus University
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18
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Tump AN, Deffner D, Pleskac TJ, Romanczuk P, M. Kurvers RHJ. A Cognitive Computational Approach to Social and Collective Decision-Making. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2024; 19:538-551. [PMID: 37671891 PMCID: PMC10913326 DOI: 10.1177/17456916231186964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/07/2023]
Abstract
Collective dynamics play a key role in everyday decision-making. Whether social influence promotes the spread of accurate information and ultimately results in adaptive behavior or leads to false information cascades and maladaptive social contagion strongly depends on the cognitive mechanisms underlying social interactions. Here we argue that cognitive modeling, in tandem with experiments that allow collective dynamics to emerge, can mechanistically link cognitive processes at the individual and collective levels. We illustrate the strength of this cognitive computational approach with two highly successful cognitive models that have been applied to interactive group experiments: evidence-accumulation and reinforcement-learning models. We show how these approaches make it possible to simultaneously study (a) how individual cognition drives social systems, (b) how social systems drive individual cognition, and (c) the dynamic feedback processes between the two layers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alan N. Tump
- Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development
- Science of Intelligence, Technische Universität Berlin
| | - Dominik Deffner
- Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development
- Science of Intelligence, Technische Universität Berlin
| | | | - Pawel Romanczuk
- Science of Intelligence, Technische Universität Berlin
- Institute for Theoretical Biology, Department of Biology, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin
| | - Ralf H. J. M. Kurvers
- Center for Adaptive Rationality, Max Planck Institute for Human Development
- Science of Intelligence, Technische Universität Berlin
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19
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Lawson DW, Chen Z, Kilgallen JA, Brand CO, Ishungisa AM, Schaffnit SB, Kumogola Y, Urassa M. Misperception of peer beliefs reinforces inequitable gender norms among Tanzanian men. EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES 2024; 6:e17. [PMID: 38572225 PMCID: PMC10988154 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2024.6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2023] [Revised: 12/20/2023] [Accepted: 02/02/2024] [Indexed: 04/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Gender role ideology, i.e. beliefs about how genders should behave, is shaped by social learning. Accordingly, if perceptions about the beliefs of others are inaccurate this may impact trajectories of cultural change. Consistent with this premise, recent studies report evidence of a tendency to overestimate peer support for inequitable gender norms, especially among men, and that correcting apparent 'norm misperception' promotes transitions to relatively egalitarian beliefs. However, supporting evidence largely relies on self-report measures vulnerable to social desirability bias. Consequently, observed patterns may reflect researcher measurement error rather than participant misperception. Addressing this shortcoming, we examine men's gender role ideology using both conventional self-reported and a novel wife-reported measure of men's beliefs in an urbanising community in Tanzania. We confirm that participants overestimate peer support for gender inequity. However, the latter measure, which we argue more accurately captures men's true beliefs, implies that this tendency is relatively modest in magnitude and scope. Overestimation was most pronounced among men holding relatively inequitable beliefs, consistent with misperception of peer beliefs reinforcing inequitable norms. Furthermore, older and poorly educated men overestimated peer support for gender inequity the most, suggesting that outdated and limited social information contribute to norm misperception in this context.
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Affiliation(s)
- David W. Lawson
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
| | - Zhian Chen
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
| | | | - Charlotte O. Brand
- Human Behaviour and Cultural Evolution Group, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - Alexander M. Ishungisa
- National Institute for Medical Research, Mwanza, Tanzania
- Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | | | | | - Mark Urassa
- National Institute for Medical Research, Mwanza, Tanzania
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20
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Vicente U, Ara A, Palacín-Lois M, Marco-Pallarés J. Neurophysiological correlates of interpersonal discrepancy and social adjustment in an interactive decision-making task in dyads. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1272841. [PMID: 38420174 PMCID: PMC10899479 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1272841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/25/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction The pursuit of convergence and the social behavioral adjustment of conformity are fundamental cooperative behaviors that help people adjust their mental frameworks to reach a common goal. However, while social psychology has extensively studied conformity by its influence context, there is still plenty to investigate about the neural cognitive mechanisms involved in this behavior. Methods We proposed a paradigm with two phases, a pre-activation phase to enhance cooperative tendencies and, later, a social decision-making phase in which dyads had to make a perceptual estimation in three consecutive trials and could converge in their decisions without an explicit request or reward to do so. In Study 1, 80 participants were divided in two conditions. In one condition participants did the pre-activation phase alone, while in the other condition the two participants did it with their partners and could interact freely. In Study 2, we registered the electroencephalographical (EEG) activity of 36 participants in the social decision-making phase. Results Study 1 showed behavioral evidence of higher spontaneous convergence in participants who interacted in the pre-activation phase. Event related Potentials (ERP) recorded in Study 2 revealed signal differences in response divergence in different time intervals. Time-frequency analysis showed theta, alpha, and beta evidence related to cognitive control, attention, and reward processing associated with social convergence. Discussion Current results support the spontaneous convergence of behavior in dyads, with increased behavioral adjustment in those participants who have previously cooperated. In addition, neurophysiological components were associated with discrepancy levels between participants, and supported the validity of the experimental paradigm to study spontaneous social behavioral adaptation in experimental settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Unai Vicente
- Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Department of Social and Quantitative Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Cognition and Brain Plasticity Unit, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Alberto Ara
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- BRAMS: International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - María Palacín-Lois
- Department of Social and Quantitative Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Josep Marco-Pallarés
- Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Cognition and Brain Plasticity Unit, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain
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21
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O'Brien MJ, Valverde S, Duran-Nebreda S, Vidiella B, Bentley RA. Punctuated equilibrium at 50: Anything there for evolutionary anthropology? Yes; definitely. Evol Anthropol 2024; 33:e22009. [PMID: 37961949 DOI: 10.1002/evan.22009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Revised: 09/05/2023] [Accepted: 10/02/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023]
Abstract
The theory of punctuated equilibrium (PE) was developed a little over 50 years ago to explain long-term, large-scale appearance and disappearance of species in the fossil record. A theory designed specifically for that purpose cannot be expected, out of the box, to be directly applicable to biocultural evolution, but in revised form, PE offers a promising approach to incorporating not only a wealth of recent empirical research on genetic, linguistic, and technological evolution but also large databases that document human biological and cultural diversity across time and space. Here we isolate the fundamental components of PE and propose which pieces, when reassembled or renamed, can be highly useful in evolutionary anthropology, especially as humanity faces abrupt ecological challenges on an increasingly larger scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael J O'Brien
- Department of History, Geography, and Philosophy and Department of Life Sciences, Texas A&M University, San Antonio, Texas, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA
| | - Sergi Valverde
- Evolution of Networks Lab, Institute of Evolutionary Biology (UPF-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain
- European Centre for Living Technology (ECLT), Venezia, Italy
| | - Salva Duran-Nebreda
- Evolution of Networks Lab, Institute of Evolutionary Biology (UPF-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Blai Vidiella
- Evolution of Networks Lab, Institute of Evolutionary Biology (UPF-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain
| | - R Alexander Bentley
- Department of Anthropology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
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22
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Pereg M, Hertz U, Ben-Artzi I, Shahar N. Disentangling the contribution of individual and social learning processes in human advice-taking behavior. NPJ SCIENCE OF LEARNING 2024; 9:4. [PMID: 38245562 PMCID: PMC10799906 DOI: 10.1038/s41539-024-00214-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2023] [Accepted: 01/03/2024] [Indexed: 01/22/2024]
Abstract
The study of social learning examines how individuals learn from others by means of observation, imitation, or compliance with advice. However, it still remains largely unknown whether social learning processes have a distinct contribution to behavior, independent from non-social trial-and-error learning that often occurs simultaneously. 153 participants completed a reinforcement learning task, where they were asked to make choices to gain rewards. Advice from an artificial teacher was presented in 60% of the trials, allowing us to compare choice behavior with and without advice. Results showed a strong and reliable tendency to follow advice (test-retest reliability ~0.73). Computational modeling suggested a unique contribution of three distinct learning strategies: (a) individual learning (i.e., learning the value of actions, independent of advice), (b) informed advice-taking (i.e., learning the value of following advice), and (c) non-informed advice-taking (i.e., a constant bias to follow advice regardless of outcome history). Comparing artificial and empirical data provided specific behavioral regression signatures to both informed and non-informed advice taking processes. We discuss the theoretical implications of integrating internal and external information during the learning process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maayan Pereg
- School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
- Minducate Center for the Science of Learning, Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv, Israel.
- Department of Psychology, Achva Academic College, Arugot, Israel.
| | - Uri Hertz
- Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
- Institute of Information Processing and Decision Making, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Ido Ben-Artzi
- School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
- Minducate Center for the Science of Learning, Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Nitzan Shahar
- School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
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23
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Gelfand MJ, Gavrilets S, Nunn N. Norm Dynamics: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Social Norm Emergence, Persistence, and Change. Annu Rev Psychol 2024; 75:341-378. [PMID: 37906949 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-psych-033020-013319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2023]
Abstract
Social norms are the glue that holds society together, yet our knowledge of them remains heavily intellectually siloed. This article provides an interdisciplinary review of the emerging field of norm dynamics by integrating research across the social sciences through a cultural-evolutionary lens. After reviewing key distinctions in theory and method, we discuss research on norm psychology-the neural and cognitive underpinnings of social norm learning and acquisition. We then overview how norms emerge and spread through intergenerational transmission, social networks, and group-level ecological and historical factors. Next, we discuss multilevel factors that lead norms to persist, change, or erode over time. We also consider cultural mismatches that can arise when a changing environment leads once-beneficial norms to become maladaptive. Finally, we discuss potential future research directions and the implications of norm dynamics for theory and policy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele J Gelfand
- Graduate School of Business and Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA;
| | - Sergey Gavrilets
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Department of Mathematics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Nathan Nunn
- Vancouver School of Economics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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24
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Dongre P, Lanté G, Cantat M, Canteloup C, van de Waal E. Role of immigrant males and muzzle contacts in the uptake of a novel food by wild vervet monkeys. eLife 2024; 13:e76486. [PMID: 38192204 PMCID: PMC10776085 DOI: 10.7554/elife.76486] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2021] [Accepted: 12/13/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2024] Open
Abstract
The entry into and uptake of information in social groups is critical for behavioral adaptation by long-lived species in rapidly changing environments. We exposed five groups of wild vervet monkeys to a novel food to investigate the innovation of processing and consuming it. We report that immigrant males innovated in two groups, and an infant innovated in one group. In two other groups, immigrant males imported the innovation from their previous groups. We compared uptake between groups with respect to the initial innovator to examine the extent to which dispersing males could introduce an innovation into groups. Uptake of the novel food was faster in groups where immigrant males ate first rather than the infants. Younger individuals were more likely overall, and faster, to subsequently acquire the novel food. We also investigated the role of muzzle contact behavior in information seeking around the novel food. Muzzle contacts decreased in frequency over repeated exposures to the novel food. Muzzle contacts were initiated the most by naïve individuals, high rankers, and juveniles; and were targeted most towards knowledgeable individuals and high rankers, and the least towards infants. We highlight the potential importance of dispersers in rapidly exploiting novel resources among populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pooja Dongre
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of LausanneLausanneSwitzerland
- Inkawu Vervet Project, Mawana Game ReserveKwaZulu NatalSouth Africa
| | - Gaëlle Lanté
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of LausanneLausanneSwitzerland
- University of PoitiersPoitiersFrance
| | - Mathieu Cantat
- Inkawu Vervet Project, Mawana Game ReserveKwaZulu NatalSouth Africa
| | - Charlotte Canteloup
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of LausanneLausanneSwitzerland
- Inkawu Vervet Project, Mawana Game ReserveKwaZulu NatalSouth Africa
- Laboratory of Cognitive & Adaptive Neurosciences, CNRS - UMR 7364, University of StrasbourgStrasbourgFrance
| | - Erica van de Waal
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of LausanneLausanneSwitzerland
- Inkawu Vervet Project, Mawana Game ReserveKwaZulu NatalSouth Africa
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25
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Charbonneau M, Curioni A, McEllin L, Strachan JWA. Flexible Cultural Learning Through Action Coordination. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2024; 19:201-222. [PMID: 37458767 DOI: 10.1177/17456916231182923] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2024]
Abstract
The cultural transmission of technical know-how has proven vital to the success of our species. The broad diversity of learning contexts and social configurations, as well as the various kinds of coordinated interactions they involve, speaks to our capacity to flexibly adapt to and succeed in transmitting vital knowledge in various learning contexts. Although often recognized by ethnographers, the flexibility of cultural learning has so far received little attention in terms of cognitive mechanisms. We argue that a key feature of the flexibility of cultural learning is that both the models and learners recruit cognitive mechanisms of action coordination to modulate their behavior contingently on the behavior of their partner, generating a process of mutual adaptation supporting the successful transmission of technical skills in diverse and fluctuating learning environments. We propose that the study of cultural learning would benefit from the experimental methods, results, and insights of joint-action research and, complementarily, that the field of joint-action research could expand its scope by integrating a learning and cultural dimension. Bringing these two fields of research together promises to enrich our understanding of cultural learning, its contextual flexibility, and joint action coordination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mathieu Charbonneau
- Africa Institute for Research in Economics and Social Sciences, Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique
| | | | - Luke McEllin
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University
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26
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Abstract
Norms permeate human life. Most of people's activities can be characterized by rules about what is appropriate, allowed, required, or forbidden-rules that are crucial in making people hyper-cooperative animals. In this article, I examine the current cognitive-evolutionary account of "norm psychology" and propose an alternative that is better supported by evidence and better placed to promote interdisciplinary dialogue. The incumbent theory focuses on rules and claims that humans genetically inherit cognitive and motivational mechanisms specialized for processing these rules. The cultural-evolutionary alternative defines normativity in relation to behavior-compliance, enforcement, and commentary-and suggests that it depends on implicit and explicit processes. The implicit processes are genetically inherited and domain-general; rather than being specialized for normativity, they do many jobs in many species. The explicit processes are culturally inherited and domain-specific; they are constructed from mentalizing and reasoning by social interaction in childhood. The cultural-evolutionary, or "cognitive gadget," perspective suggests that people alive today-parents, educators, elders, politicians, lawyers-have more responsibility for sustaining normativity than the nativist view implies. People's actions not only shape and transmit the rules, but they also create in each new generation mental processes that can grasp the rules and put them into action.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cecilia Heyes
- Department of Experimental Psychology & All Souls College, University of Oxford
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27
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von Flüe L, Efferson C, Vogt S. Green preferences sustain greenwashing: challenges in the cultural transition to a sustainable future. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20220268. [PMID: 37952622 PMCID: PMC10645117 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0268] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2022] [Accepted: 07/05/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Discussions of the environmental impact that revolve around monetary incentives and other easy-to-measure factors are important, but they neglect culture. Pro-environmental values will be crucial when facing sustainability challenges in the Anthropocene, and demand among green consumers is arguably critical to incentivise sustainable production. However, owing to asymmetric information, consumers might not know whether the premium they pay for green production is well-spent. Reliable monitoring of manufacturers is meant to solve this problem. To see how this might work, we develop and analyse a game theoretic model of a simple buyer-seller exchange with asymmetric information, and our analysis shows that greenwashing can exist exactly because reliable monitoring co-exists with unreliable monitoring. More broadly, promoting pro-environmental values among consumers might even amplify the problem at times because a manufacturer with significant market power can exploit both consumer preferences for sustainability and trustworthy monitoring to gouge prices and in extreme cases green wash in plain sight. We discuss several strategies to address this problem. Promoting accurate beliefs and a large-scale behavioural change based on pro-environmental values might be necessary for a rapid transition to a sustainable future, but recent evidence from the cultural evolution literature highlights many important challenges. This article is part of the theme issue 'Evolution and sustainability: gathering the strands for an Anthropocene synthesis'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lukas von Flüe
- Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland
| | - Charles Efferson
- Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland
| | - Sonja Vogt
- Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland
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28
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Richerson PJ, Boyd RT, Efferson C. Agentic processes in cultural evolution: relevance to Anthropocene sustainability. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20220252. [PMID: 37952614 PMCID: PMC10645076 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2022] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Humans have evolved culturally and perhaps genetically to be unsustainable. We exhibit a deep and consistent pattern of short-term resource exploitation behaviours and institutions. We distinguish agentic and naturally selective forces in cultural evolution. Agentic forces are quite important compared to the blind forces (random variation and natural selection) in cultural evolution and gene-culture coevolution. We need to use the agentic policy-making processes to evade the impact of blind natural selection. We argue that agentic forces became important during our Pleistocene history and into the Anthropocene present. Human creativity in the form of deliberate innovations and the deliberate selective diffusion of technical and social advances drove this process forward for a long time before planetary limits became a serious issue. We review models with multiple positive feedbacks that roughly fit this observed pattern. Policy changes in the case of large-scale existential threats like climate change are made by political and diplomatic agents grasping and moving levers of institutional power in order to avoid the operation of blind natural selection and agentic forces driven by narrow or short-term goals. This article is part of the theme issue 'Evolution and sustainability: gathering the strands for an Anthropocene synthesis'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter J. Richerson
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, 95616, CA, USA
| | - Robert T. Boyd
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, Tempe, 85281, AZ, USA
| | - Charles Efferson
- Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Lausanne, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
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29
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Steiglechner P, Smaldino PE, Moser D, Merico A. Social identity bias and communication network clustering interact to shape patterns of opinion dynamics. J R Soc Interface 2023; 20:20230372. [PMID: 38086404 PMCID: PMC10715916 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2023.0372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2023] [Accepted: 11/17/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Social influence aligns people's opinions, but social identities and related in-group biases interfere with this alignment. For instance, the recent rise of young climate activists (e.g. 'Fridays for Future' or 'Last Generation') has highlighted the importance of generational identities in the climate change debate. It is unclear how social identities affect the emergence of opinion patterns, such as consensus or disagreement, in a society. Here, we present an agent-based model to explore this question. Agents communicate in a network and form opinions through social influence. The agents have fixed social identities which involve homophily in their interaction preferences and in-group bias in their perception of others. We find that the in-group bias has opposing effects depending on the network topology. The bias impedes consensus in highly random networks by promoting the formation of echo chambers within social identity groups. By contrast, the bias facilitates consensus in highly clustered networks by aligning dispersed in-group agents across the network and, thereby, preventing the formation of isolated echo chambers. Our model uncovers the mechanisms underpinning these opposing effects of the in-group bias and highlights the importance of the communication network topology for shaping opinion dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Steiglechner
- Systems Ecology Group, Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Bremen, Germany
- School of Science, Constructor University, Bremen, Germany
| | - Paul E. Smaldino
- Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California Merced, Merced, CA, USA
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, USA
| | - Deyshawn Moser
- Institutional and Behavioural Economics Group, Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Bremen, Germany
- School of Business, Social and Decision Sciences, Constructor University, Bremen, Germany
| | - Agostino Merico
- Systems Ecology Group, Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), Bremen, Germany
- School of Science, Constructor University, Bremen, Germany
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30
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Lappo E, Rosenberg NA, Feldman MW. Cultural transmission of move choice in chess. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20231634. [PMID: 37964528 PMCID: PMC10646474 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1634] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2023] [Accepted: 09/26/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023] Open
Abstract
The study of cultural evolution benefits from detailed analysis of cultural transmission in specific human domains. Chess provides a platform for understanding the transmission of knowledge due to its active community of players, precise behaviours and long-term records of high-quality data. In this paper, we perform an analysis of chess in the context of cultural evolution, describing multiple cultural factors that affect move choice. We then build a population-level statistical model of move choice in chess, based on the Dirichlet-multinomial likelihood, to analyse cultural transmission over decades of recorded games played by leading players. For moves made in specific positions, we evaluate the relative effects of frequency-dependent bias, success bias and prestige bias on the dynamics of move frequencies. We observe that negative frequency-dependent bias plays a role in the dynamics of certain moves, and that other moves are compatible with transmission under prestige bias or success bias. These apparent biases may reflect recent changes, namely the introduction of computer chess engines and online tournament broadcasts. Our analysis of chess provides insights into broader questions concerning how social learning biases affect cultural evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Egor Lappo
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
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31
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Snuggs S, Clot S, Lamport D, Sah A, Forrest J, Helme Guizon A, Kaur A, Iqbal Z, Caldara C, Wilhelm MC, Anin C, Vogt J. A mixed-methods approach to understanding barriers and facilitators to healthy eating and exercise from five European countries: highlighting the roles of enjoyment, emotion and social engagement. Psychol Health 2023:1-28. [PMID: 37933459 DOI: 10.1080/08870446.2023.2274045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 11/08/2023]
Abstract
Healthy adults are consistently falling below national and international recommendations for physical activity and dietary intake across Europe. This study took a co-creative approach with adult samples from five European countries to qualitatively and quantitatively establish motivators, barriers and sustaining factors for positive health behaviour change. Stage 1 delivered a newly-designed online programme, creating a community who identified challenges, motivators and solutions to sustaining positive healthy eating and physical activity behaviours. Stage 2 administered an online survey (developed from Stage 1 findings) to a larger sample to quantify the relative importance of these motivators and barriers. Results from both stages indicated enjoyment, positive emotions, and reward as key motivators for both behaviours across all five countries. Barriers included habit-breaking difficulties, temptation and negative affective states. Those with a high BMI placed more importance on social pressure than those with healthy BMI. Participants' reports of motivators and barriers reflected relevant approaches from consumer science, behavioural economics, and psychology. Interventions supporting adults who are not chronically ill but would benefit from improved diet and/or physical activity should not focus exclusively on health as a motivating factor. Emphasis on enjoyable behaviours, social engagement and reward will likely improve engagement and sustained behaviour change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Snuggs
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Sophie Clot
- Department of Economics, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Daniel Lamport
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Anumeha Sah
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Joseph Forrest
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | | | - Amanpreet Kaur
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Zara Iqbal
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Cindy Caldara
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble INP, CERAG, Grenoble, France
| | | | - Camille Anin
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble INP, CERAG, Grenoble, France
| | - Julia Vogt
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
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32
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Turner MA, Singleton AL, Harris MJ, Harryman I, Lopez CA, Arthur RF, Muraida C, Jones JH. Minority-group incubators and majority-group reservoirs support the diffusion of climate change adaptations. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20220401. [PMID: 37718602 PMCID: PMC10505853 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 06/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Successful climate change adaptation depends on the spread and maintenance of adaptive behaviours. Current theory suggests that the heterogeneity of metapopulation structure can help adaptations diffuse throughout a population. In this paper, we develop an agent-based model of the spread of adaptations in populations with minority-majority metapopulation structure, where subpopulations learn more or less frequently from their own group compared to the other group. In our simulations, minority-majority-structured populations with moderate degrees of in-group preference better spread and maintained an adaptation compared to populations with more equal-sized groups and weak homophily. Minority groups act as incubators for an adaptation, while majority groups act as reservoirs for an adaptation once it has spread widely. This means that adaptations diffuse throughout populations better when minority groups start out knowing an adaptation, as Indigenous populations often do, while cohesion among majority groups further promotes adaptation diffusion. Our work advances the goal of this theme issue by developing new theoretical insights and demonstrating the utility of cultural evolutionary theory and methods as important tools in the nascent science of culture that climate change adaptation needs. This article is part of the theme issue 'Climate change adaptation needs a science of culture'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew A. Turner
- Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, Social Sciences Division, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Alyson L. Singleton
- Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, Social Sciences Division, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Mallory J. Harris
- Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, Social Sciences Division, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Ian Harryman
- Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, Social Sciences Division, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Cesar Augusto Lopez
- Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, Social Sciences Division, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Ronan Forde Arthur
- Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, Social Sciences Division, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Caroline Muraida
- Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, Social Sciences Division, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - James Holland Jones
- Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, Social Sciences Division, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
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33
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Waring TM, Niles MT, Kling MM, Miller SN, Hébert-Dufresne L, Sabzian H, Gotelli N, McGill BJ. Operationalizing cultural adaptation to climate change: contemporary examples from United States agriculture. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20220397. [PMID: 37718600 PMCID: PMC10505858 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2023] [Accepted: 06/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/19/2023] Open
Abstract
It has been proposed that climate adaptation research can benefit from an evolutionary approach. But related empirical research is lacking. We advance the evolutionary study of climate adaptation with two case studies from contemporary United States agriculture. First, we define 'cultural adaptation to climate change' as a mechanistic process of population-level cultural change. We argue this definition enables rigorous comparisons, yields testable hypotheses from mathematical theory and distinguishes adaptive change, non-adaptive change and desirable policy outcomes. Next, we develop an operational approach to identify 'cultural adaptation to climate change' based on established empirical criteria. We apply this approach to data on crop choices and the use of cover crops between 2008 and 2021 from the United States. We find evidence that crop choices are adapting to local trends in two separate climate variables in some regions of the USA. But evidence suggests that cover cropping may be adapting more to the economic environment than climatic conditions. Further research is needed to characterize the process of cultural adaptation, particularly the routes and mechanisms of cultural transmission. Furthermore, climate adaptation policy could benefit from research on factors that differentiate regions exhibiting adaptive trends in crop choice from those that do not. This article is part of the theme issue 'Climate change adaptation needs a science of culture'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy M. Waring
- School of Economics, University of Maine, Orono 04473, ME, USA
- Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, University of Maine, Orono 04473, ME, USA
| | - Meredith T. Niles
- Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Vermont, Burlington 05405-0160, VT, USA
- Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont, Burlington 05405-0160, VT, USA
| | - Matthew M. Kling
- Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Vermont, Burlington 05405-0160, VT, USA
- Department of Biology, University of Vermont, Burlington 05405-0160, VT, USA
| | - Stephanie N. Miller
- Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, University of Maine, Orono 04473, ME, USA
- School of Biology and Ecology, University of Maine, Orono 04473, ME, USA
| | - Laurent Hébert-Dufresne
- Department of Computer Science, University of Vermont, Burlington 05405-0160, VT, USA
- Vermont Complex Systems Center, University of Vermont, Burlington 05405-0160, VT, USA
| | - Hossein Sabzian
- Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, University of Maine, Orono 04473, ME, USA
| | - Nicholas Gotelli
- Department of Biology, University of Vermont, Burlington 05405-0160, VT, USA
| | - Brian J. McGill
- Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, University of Maine, Orono 04473, ME, USA
- School of Biology and Ecology, University of Maine, Orono 04473, ME, USA
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34
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Brinkmann L, Baumann F, Bonnefon JF, Derex M, Müller TF, Nussberger AM, Czaplicka A, Acerbi A, Griffiths TL, Henrich J, Leibo JZ, McElreath R, Oudeyer PY, Stray J, Rahwan I. Machine culture. Nat Hum Behav 2023; 7:1855-1868. [PMID: 37985914 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01742-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2023] [Accepted: 10/03/2023] [Indexed: 11/22/2023]
Abstract
The ability of humans to create and disseminate culture is often credited as the single most important factor of our success as a species. In this Perspective, we explore the notion of 'machine culture', culture mediated or generated by machines. We argue that intelligent machines simultaneously transform the cultural evolutionary processes of variation, transmission and selection. Recommender algorithms are altering social learning dynamics. Chatbots are forming a new mode of cultural transmission, serving as cultural models. Furthermore, intelligent machines are evolving as contributors in generating cultural traits-from game strategies and visual art to scientific results. We provide a conceptual framework for studying the present and anticipated future impact of machines on cultural evolution, and present a research agenda for the study of machine culture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Levin Brinkmann
- Center for Humans and Machines, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Fabian Baumann
- Center for Humans and Machines, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Maxime Derex
- Toulouse School of Economics, Toulouse, France
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | - Thomas F Müller
- Center for Humans and Machines, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
| | - Anne-Marie Nussberger
- Center for Humans and Machines, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
| | - Agnieszka Czaplicka
- Center for Humans and Machines, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
| | - Alberto Acerbi
- Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Thomas L Griffiths
- Department of Psychology and Department of Computer Science, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Joseph Henrich
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | - Richard McElreath
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | | | - Jonathan Stray
- Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Iyad Rahwan
- Center for Humans and Machines, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.
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35
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Brady WJ, Jackson JC, Lindström B, Crockett MJ. Algorithm-mediated social learning in online social networks. Trends Cogn Sci 2023; 27:947-960. [PMID: 37543440 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2023.06.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2023] [Revised: 06/22/2023] [Accepted: 06/27/2023] [Indexed: 08/07/2023]
Abstract
Human social learning is increasingly occurring on online social platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok. On these platforms, algorithms exploit existing social-learning biases (i.e., towards prestigious, ingroup, moral, and emotional information, or 'PRIME' information) to sustain users' attention and maximize engagement. Here, we synthesize emerging insights into 'algorithm-mediated social learning' and propose a framework that examines its consequences in terms of functional misalignment. We suggest that, when social-learning biases are exploited by algorithms, PRIME information becomes amplified via human-algorithm interactions in the digital social environment in ways that cause social misperceptions and conflict, and spread misinformation. We discuss solutions for reducing functional misalignment, including algorithms promoting bounded diversification and increasing transparency of algorithmic amplification.
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Affiliation(s)
- William J Brady
- Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management, Evanston, IL, USA.
| | | | - Björn Lindström
- Karolinska Institutet, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Solna, Sweden
| | - M J Crockett
- Princeton University, Department of Psychology, Princeton, NJ, USA; Princeton University, University Center for Human Values, Princeton, NJ, USA
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36
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Hawkins RD, Berdahl AM, Pentland A'S, Tenenbaum JB, Goodman ND, Krafft PM. Flexible social inference facilitates targeted social learning when rewards are not observable. Nat Hum Behav 2023; 7:1767-1776. [PMID: 37591983 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01682-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2020] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 08/19/2023]
Abstract
Groups coordinate more effectively when individuals are able to learn from others' successes. But acquiring such knowledge is not always easy, especially in real-world environments where success is hidden from public view. We suggest that social inference capacities may help bridge this gap, allowing individuals to update their beliefs about others' underlying knowledge and success from observable trajectories of behaviour. We compared our social inference model against simpler heuristics in three studies of human behaviour in a collective-sensing task. Experiment 1 demonstrated that average performance improved as a function of group size at a rate greater than predicted by heuristic models. Experiment 2 introduced artificial agents to evaluate how individuals selectively rely on social information. Experiment 3 generalized these findings to a more complex reward landscape. Taken together, our findings provide insight into the relationship between individual social cognition and the flexibility of collective behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert D Hawkins
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
| | - Andrew M Berdahl
- School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | | | - Noah D Goodman
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Department of Computer Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - P M Krafft
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Creative Computing Institute, University of Arts London, London, UK
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37
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Björlin Avdic H, Strannegård C, Engberg H, Willfors C, Nordgren I, Frisén L, Hirschberg AL, Guath M, Nordgren A, Kleberg JL. Reduced effects of social feedback on learning in Turner syndrome. Sci Rep 2023; 13:15858. [PMID: 37739980 PMCID: PMC10516979 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-42628-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2023] [Accepted: 09/12/2023] [Indexed: 09/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Turner syndrome is a genetic condition caused by a complete or partial loss of one of the X chromosomes. Previous studies indicate that Turner syndrome is associated with challenges in social skills, but the underlying mechanisms remain largely unexplored. A possible mechanism is a reduced social influence on learning. The current study examined the impact of social and non-social feedback on learning in women with Turner syndrome (n = 35) and a sex- and age-matched control group (n = 37). Participants were instructed to earn points by repeatedly choosing between two stimuli with unequal probabilities of resulting in a reward. Mastering the task therefore required participants to learn through feedback which of the two stimuli was more likely to be rewarded. Data were analyzed using computational modeling and analyses of choice behavior. Social feedback led to a more explorative choice behavior in the control group, resulting in reduced learning compared to non-social feedback. No effects of social feedback on learning were found in Turner syndrome. The current study thus indicates that women with Turner syndrome may be less sensitive to social influences on reinforcement learning, than the general population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanna Björlin Avdic
- Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Claes Strannegård
- Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Division of Cognition and Communication, Department of Applied IT, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Hedvig Engberg
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet & Department of Gynaecology and Reproductive Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Charlotte Willfors
- Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Ida Nordgren
- Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Louise Frisén
- Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Angelica Lindén Hirschberg
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet & Department of Gynaecology and Reproductive Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Mona Guath
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Ann Nordgren
- Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Institute of Biomedicine, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Department of Clinical Genetics and Genomics, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Johan Lundin Kleberg
- Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm Health Care Services, Region Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
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38
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Wang C, Wang Z. The effects of model age and familiarity on children's reproduction of ritual behaviour. BRITISH JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY 2023; 41:259-275. [PMID: 37019847 DOI: 10.1111/bjdp.12448] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2022] [Accepted: 03/23/2023] [Indexed: 04/07/2023]
Abstract
Rituals are fundamental social acts that structure relationships and enable the filtering of important cognitive attributes (e.g. working memory and inhibitory control) that make humans what they are today. This study investigated the influence of model age and familiarity on the reproduction of ritual behaviour in five-year-old children. Through an exploration of these factors, this study sheds light on the cognitive mechanisms children use to comprehend and replicate rituals. Ninety-eight five-year-old children were divided into two groups: an experimental group, which observed an adult or child model, either familiar or unfamiliar to them, demonstrating eight ritual acts; and a control group, which received no video demonstration. The results revealed that children who observed an adult reproduced more ritual acts than those who observed a child, and children who observed unfamiliar models reproduced ritual acts more frequently than those who observed familiar ones. Additionally, when exposed to unfamiliar models, children's reproductive fidelity was higher. These findings suggest that children have the ability to address new adaptation challenges by participating in rituals at an early age and that they generate suitable solutions depending on the model's characteristics. This provides evidence for the adaptive bias in children's cultural learning from a ritual perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chang Wang
- School of Education Science, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, China
| | - Zhidan Wang
- School of Education Science, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, China
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39
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Abofol T, Erev I, Sulitzeanu-Kenan R. Conformity and Group Performance. HUMAN NATURE (HAWTHORNE, N.Y.) 2023; 34:381-399. [PMID: 37541988 PMCID: PMC10543786 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-023-09454-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 08/06/2023]
Abstract
This research provides evidence regarding the causal effect of group conformity on task performance in stable and variable environments. Drawing on studies in cultural evolution, social learning, and social psychology, we experimentally tested the hypotheses that conformity improves group performance in a stable environment (H1) and decreases performance (by hindering adaptability) in a temporally variable environment (H2). We compare the performance of individuals, low conformity groups, and high conformity groups in a four-arm randomized lab experiment (N = 240). High conformity was manipulated by rewarding agreement with the group's majority and imposing a cost on disagreement. The monetary implications of conformity impaired performance in a variable environment but did not have a significant effect on performance in the stable environment. Intragroup individual-level analyses provide insights into the mechanisms that account for the group-level results by showing that lower conformity in groups facilitates efficient adaptability in the use of social information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taher Abofol
- Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Ido Erev
- Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
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40
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Webster MM. Social learning in non-grouping animals. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2023; 98:1329-1344. [PMID: 36992613 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12954] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2022] [Revised: 03/16/2023] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 03/31/2023]
Abstract
Social learning is widespread in the animal kingdom and is involved in behaviours from navigation and predator avoidance to mate choice and foraging. While social learning has been extensively studied in group-living species, this article presents a literature review demonstrating that social learning is also seen in a range of non-grouping animals, including arthropods, fishes and tetrapod groups, and in a variety of behavioural contexts. We should not be surprised by this pattern, since non-grouping animals are not necessarily non-social, and stand to benefit from attending to and responding to social information in the same ways that group-living species do. The article goes on to ask what non-grouping species can tell us about the evolution and development of social learning. First, while social learning may be based on the same cognitive processes as other kinds of learning, albeit with social stimuli, sensory organs and brain regions associated with detection and motivation to respond to social information may be under selection. Non-grouping species may provide useful comparison taxa in phylogenetic analyses investigating if and how the social environment drives selection on these input channels. Second, non-grouping species may be ideal candidates for exploring how ontogenetic experience of social cues shapes the development of social learning, allowing researchers to avoid some of the negative welfare implications associated with raising group-living animals under restricted social conditions. Finally, while non-grouping species may be capable of learning socially under experimental conditions, there is a need to consider how non-grouping restricts access to learning opportunities under natural conditions and whether this places a functional constraint on what non-grouping animals actually learn socially in the wild.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mike M Webster
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9TH, UK
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41
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Vicente U, Ara A, Marco-Pallarés J. Intra- and inter-brain synchrony oscillations underlying social adjustment. Sci Rep 2023; 13:11211. [PMID: 37433866 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-38292-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2023] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Humans naturally synchronize their behavior with other people. However, although it happens almost automatically, adjusting behavior and conformity to others is a complex phenomenon whose neural mechanisms are still yet to be understood entirely. The present experiment aimed to study the oscillatory synchronization mechanisms underlying automatic dyadic convergence in an EEG hyperscanning experiment. Thirty-six people performed a cooperative decision-making task where dyads had to guess the correct position of a point on a line. A reinforcement learning algorithm was used to model different aspects of the participants' behavior and their expectations of their peers. Intra- and inter-connectivity among electrode sites were assessed using inter-site phase clustering in three main frequency bands (theta, alpha, beta) using a two-level Bayesian mixed-effects modeling approach. The results showed two oscillatory synchronization dynamics related to attention and executive functions in alpha and reinforcement learning in theta. In addition, inter-brain synchrony was mainly driven by beta oscillations. This study contributes preliminary evidence on the phase-coherence mechanism underlying inter-personal behavioral adjustment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Unai Vicente
- Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona, 08035, Barcelona, Spain.
- Cognition and Brain Plasticity Unit, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute, 08907, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain.
| | - Alberto Ara
- Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, H3A 2B4, Montreal, Canada
- BRAMS: International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research, H3C 3J7, Montreal, Canada
| | - Josep Marco-Pallarés
- Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona, 08035, Barcelona, Spain.
- Cognition and Brain Plasticity Unit, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute, 08907, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain.
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42
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Marković Đ, Aljadeff N, Aplin LM, Lotem A. Increased initial task difficulty drives social foragers to develop sub-optimal conformity instead of adaptive diversity. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:230715. [PMID: 37416826 PMCID: PMC10320340 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230715] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2023] [Accepted: 06/07/2023] [Indexed: 07/08/2023]
Abstract
The extent to which animal societies exhibit social conformity as opposed to behavioural diversity is commonly attributed to adaptive learning strategies. Less attention is given to the possibility that the relative difficulty of learning a task socially as opposed to individually can be critical for social learning dynamics. Here we show that by raising initial task difficulty, house sparrows previously shown to exhibit adaptive social diversity become predominantly conformists. The task we used required opening feeding well covers (easier to learn socially) and to choose the covers with the rewarding cues (easy to learn individually). We replicated a previous study where sparrows exhibited adaptive diversity, but did not pre-train the naive sparrows to open covers, making the task initially more difficult. In sharp contrast to the previous study results, most sparrows continued to conform to the demonstrated cue even after experiencing greater success with the alternative rewarding cue for which competition was less intense. Thus, our study shows that a task's cognitive demands, such as the initial dependency on social demonstration, can change the entire learning dynamics, causing social animals to exhibit sub-optimal social conformity rather than adaptive diversity under otherwise identical conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Đorđe Marković
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Na'ama Aljadeff
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Lucy M. Aplin
- Department of Evolutionary Biology & Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - Arnon Lotem
- School of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
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43
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Cross CP, Boothroyd LG, Jefferson CA. Agent-based models of the cultural evolution of occupational gender roles. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:221346. [PMID: 37388313 PMCID: PMC10300665 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.221346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2022] [Accepted: 06/01/2023] [Indexed: 07/01/2023]
Abstract
The causes of sex differences in human behaviour are contested, with 'evolutionary' and 'social' explanations often being pitted against each other in the literature. Recent work showing positive correlations between indices of gender equality and the size of sex differences in behaviour has been argued to show support for 'evolutionary' over 'social' approaches. This argument, however, neglects the potential for social learning to generate arbitrary gender segregation. In the current paper we simulate, using agent-based models, a population where agents exist as one of two 'types' and can use social information about which types of agents are performing which 'roles' within their environment. We find that agents self-segregate into different roles even where real differences in performance do not exist, if there is a common belief (modelled as priors) that group differences may exist in 'innate' competence. Facilitating role changes such that agents should move without cost to the predicted highest-rewards for their skills (i.e. fluidity of the labour market) reduced segregation, while forcing extended exploration of different roles eradicated gender segregation. These models are interpreted in terms of bio-cultural evolution, and the impact of social learning on the expression of gender roles.
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Affiliation(s)
- C P Cross
- School of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Mary's College, St Andrew, Fife KY16 9AZ, UK
| | - L G Boothroyd
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
| | - C A Jefferson
- School of Computer Science, University of St Andrews, Jack Cole Building, North Haugh, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9SX, UK
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44
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Turner MA, Moya C, Smaldino PE, Jones JH. The form of uncertainty affects selection for social learning. EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES 2023; 5:e20. [PMID: 37587949 PMCID: PMC10426062 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2023.11] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2022] [Revised: 04/13/2023] [Accepted: 04/14/2023] [Indexed: 08/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Social learning is a critical adaptation for dealing with different forms of variability. Uncertainty is a severe form of variability where the space of possible decisions or probabilities of associated outcomes are unknown. We identified four theoretically important sources of uncertainty: temporal environmental variability; payoff ambiguity; selection-set size; and effective lifespan. When these combine, it is nearly impossible to fully learn about the environment. We develop an evolutionary agent-based model to test how each form of uncertainty affects the evolution of social learning. Agents perform one of several behaviours, modelled as a multi-armed bandit, to acquire payoffs. All agents learn about behavioural payoffs individually through an adaptive behaviour-choice model that uses a softmax decision rule. Use of vertical and oblique payoff-biased social learning evolved to serve as a scaffold for adaptive individual learning - they are not opposite strategies. Different types of uncertainty had varying effects. Temporal environmental variability suppressed social learning, whereas larger selection-set size promoted social learning, even when the environment changed frequently. Payoff ambiguity and lifespan interacted with other uncertainty parameters. This study begins to explain how social learning can predominate despite highly variable real-world environments when effective individual learning helps individuals recover from learning outdated social information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew A. Turner
- Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
- Division of Social Sciences, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - Cristina Moya
- Department of Anthropology, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 95616 USA
| | - Paul E. Smaldino
- Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California at Merced, Merced, CA 95340 USA
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501 USA
- Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - James Holland Jones
- Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
- Division of Social Sciences, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
- Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
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45
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Olsen K, Selbing I. Social learning and the adaptiveness of expressing and perceiving fearfulness. Behav Brain Sci 2023; 46:e74. [PMID: 37154360 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x22001820] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
The fearful ape hypothesis revolves around our ability to express and perceive fearfulness. Here, we address these abilities from a social learning perspective which casts fearfulness in a slightly different light. Our commentary argues that any theory that characterizes a (human) social signal as being adaptive, needs to address the role of social learning as an alternative candidate explanation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karsten Olsen
- Interacting Minds Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus C 8000, Denmark
| | - Ida Selbing
- Interacting Minds Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus C 8000, Denmark
- Department of Psychology, Karolinska Institutet, 171 65Solna, Sweden ; www.emotionlab.se
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46
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Beck KB, Sheldon BC, Firth JA. Social learning mechanisms shape transmission pathways through replicate local social networks of wild birds. eLife 2023; 12:85703. [PMID: 37128701 PMCID: PMC10154030 DOI: 10.7554/elife.85703] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2022] [Accepted: 04/05/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The emergence and spread of novel behaviours via social learning can lead to rapid population-level changes whereby the social connections between individuals shape information flow. However, behaviours can spread via different mechanisms and little is known about how information flow depends on the underlying learning rule individuals employ. Here, comparing four different learning mechanisms, we simulated behavioural spread on replicate empirical social networks of wild great tits and explored the relationship between individual sociality and the order of behavioural acquisition. Our results reveal that, for learning rules dependent on the sum and strength of social connections to informed individuals, social connectivity was related to the order of acquisition, with individuals with increased social connectivity and reduced social clustering adopting new behaviours faster. However, when behavioural adoption depends on the ratio of an individuals' social connections to informed versus uninformed individuals, social connectivity was not related to the order of acquisition. Finally, we show how specific learning mechanisms may limit behavioural spread within networks. These findings have important implications for understanding whether and how behaviours are likely to spread across social systems, the relationship between individuals' sociality and behavioural acquisition, and therefore for the costs and benefits of sociality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristina B Beck
- Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Ben C Sheldon
- Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Josh A Firth
- Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
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47
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Lawson DW, Alami S, Somefun OD. Gendered conflict in the human family. EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES 2023; 5:e12. [PMID: 37587929 PMCID: PMC10426121 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2023.8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2023] [Accepted: 04/02/2023] [Indexed: 08/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Sexual conflict is a thriving area of animal behaviour research. Yet parallel research in the evolutionary human sciences remains underdeveloped and has become mired by controversy. In this special collection, we aim to invigorate the study of fitness-relevant conflicts between women and men, advocating for three synergistic research priorities. First, we argue that a commitment to diversity is required to innovate the field, achieve ethical research practice, and foster fruitful dialogue with neighbouring social sciences. Accordingly, we have prioritised issues of diversity as editors, aiming to stimulate new connections and perspectives. Second, we call for greater recognition that human sex/gender roles and accompanying conflict behaviours are both subject to natural selection and culturally determined. This motivates our shift in terminology from sexual to gendered conflict when addressing human behaviour, countering stubborn tendencies to essentialise differences between women and men and directing attention to the role of cultural practices, normative sanctions and social learning in structuring conflict battlegrounds. Finally, we draw attention to contemporary policy concerns, including the wellbeing consequences of marriage practices and the gendered implications of market integration. Focus on these themes, combined with attendance to the dangers of ethnocentrism, promises to inform culturally sensitive interventions promoting gender equality worldwide.
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Affiliation(s)
- David W Lawson
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Barbara, USA
| | - Sarah Alami
- The School of Collective Intelligence, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Morocco
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48
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Balliet D, Lindström B. Inferences about interdependence shape cooperation. Trends Cogn Sci 2023; 27:583-595. [PMID: 37055313 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2023.03.003] [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: 10/15/2022] [Revised: 03/13/2023] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 04/15/2023]
Abstract
During social interactions in daily life, people possess imperfect knowledge of their interdependence (i.e., how behaviors affect each person's outcomes), and what people infer about their interdependence can shape their behaviors. We review theory and research that suggests people can infer their interdependence with others along several dimensions, including mutual dependence, power, and corresponding-versus-conflicting interests. We discuss how perceptions of interdependence affect how people cooperate and punish others' defection in everyday life. We propose that people understand their interdependence with others through knowledge of the action space, cues during social interactions (e.g., partner behaviors), and priors based on experience. Finally, we describe how learning interdependence could occur through domain-specific and domain-general mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Balliet
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Institute for Brain and Behaviour Amsterdam (IBBA), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081BT, The Netherlands.
| | - Björn Lindström
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Institute for Brain and Behaviour Amsterdam (IBBA), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081BT, The Netherlands
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49
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Hämäläinen R, Kajanus MH, Forsman JT, Kivelä SM, Seppänen JT, Loukola OJ. Ecological and evolutionary consequences of selective interspecific information use. Ecol Lett 2023; 26:490-503. [PMID: 36849224 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2022] [Revised: 02/02/2023] [Accepted: 02/04/2023] [Indexed: 03/01/2023]
Abstract
Recent work has shown that animals frequently use social information from individuals of their own species as well as from other species; however, the ecological and evolutionary consequences of this social information use remain poorly understood. Additionally, information users may be selective in their social information use, deciding from whom and how to use information, but this has been overlooked in an interspecific context. In particular, the intentional decision to reject a behaviour observed via social information has received less attention, although recent work has indicated its presence in various taxa. Based on existing literature, we explore in which circumstances selective interspecific information use may lead to different ecological and coevolutionary outcomes between two species, such as explaining observed co-occurrences of putative competitors. The initial ecological differences and the balance between the costs of competition and the benefits of social information use potentially determine whether selection may lead to trait divergence, convergence or coevolutionary arms race between two species. We propose that selective social information use, including adoption and rejection of behaviours, may have far-reaching fitness consequences, potentially leading to community-level eco-evolutionary outcomes. We argue that these consequences of selective interspecific information use may be much more widespread than has thus far been considered.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mira H Kajanus
- Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | | | - Sami M Kivelä
- Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
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50
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Dragon M, Poulin-Dubois D. To copy or not to copy: A comparison of selective trust and overimitation in young children. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2023.101316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/06/2023]
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