1
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Padilla-Iglesias C, Blanco-Portillo J, Pricop B, Ioannidis AG, Bickel B, Manica A, Vinicius L, Migliano AB. Deep history of cultural and linguistic evolution among Central African hunter-gatherers. Nat Hum Behav 2024; 8:1263-1275. [PMID: 38802540 PMCID: PMC11272592 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-024-01891-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: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 05/29/2024]
Abstract
Human evolutionary history in Central Africa reflects a deep history of population connectivity. However, Central African hunter-gatherers (CAHGs) currently speak languages acquired from their neighbouring farmers. Hence it remains unclear which aspects of CAHG cultural diversity results from long-term evolution preceding agriculture and which reflect borrowing from farmers. On the basis of musical instruments, foraging tools, specialized vocabulary and genome-wide data from ten CAHG populations, we reveal evidence of large-scale cultural interconnectivity among CAHGs before and after the Bantu expansion. We also show that the distribution of hunter-gatherer musical instruments correlates with the oldest genomic segments in our sample predating farming. Music-related words are widely shared between western and eastern groups and likely precede the borrowing of Bantu languages. In contrast, subsistence tools are less frequently exchanged and may result from adaptation to local ecologies. We conclude that CAHG material culture and specialized lexicon reflect a long evolutionary history in Central Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cecilia Padilla-Iglesias
- Human Evolutionary Ecology Group, Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
| | | | - Bogdan Pricop
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | | | - Balthasar Bickel
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Andrea Manica
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Lucio Vinicius
- Human Evolutionary Ecology Group, Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Andrea Bamberg Migliano
- Human Evolutionary Ecology Group, Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
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2
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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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3
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Passmore S, Wood ALC, Barbieri C, Shilton D, Daikoku H, Atkinson QD, Savage PE. Global musical diversity is largely independent of linguistic and genetic histories. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3964. [PMID: 38729968 PMCID: PMC11087526 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48113-7] [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: 06/28/2023] [Accepted: 04/19/2024] [Indexed: 05/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Music is a universal yet diverse cultural trait transmitted between generations. The extent to which global musical diversity traces cultural and demographic history, however, is unresolved. Using a global musical dataset of 5242 songs from 719 societies, we identify five axes of musical diversity and show that music contains geographical and historical structures analogous to linguistic and genetic diversity. After creating a matched dataset of musical, genetic, and linguistic data spanning 121 societies containing 981 songs, 1296 individual genetic profiles, and 121 languages, we show that global musical similarities are only weakly and inconsistently related to linguistic or genetic histories, with some regional exceptions such as within Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Our results suggest that global musical traditions are largely distinct from some non-musical aspects of human history.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sam Passmore
- Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University, Fujisawa, Japan.
- Evolution of Cultural Diversity Initiative (ECDI), Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
| | | | - Chiara Barbieri
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, 8057, Switzerland
- Centre for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, Zurich, 8050, Switzerland
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Cagliari, 09126, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Dor Shilton
- Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
- Edelstein Centre for the History and Philosophy of Science, Technology, and Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Hideo Daikoku
- Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University, Fujisawa, Japan
| | | | - Patrick E Savage
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
- Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Fujisawa, Japan.
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4
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He QQ, Yu JR, Tang SH, Wang MY, Wu JJ, Chen Y, Tao Y, Ji T, Mace R. Jeans and language: kin networks and reproductive success are associated with the adoption of outgroup norms. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20230031. [PMID: 38244604 PMCID: PMC10799735 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0031] [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: 05/31/2023] [Accepted: 10/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Traditional norms of human societies in rural China may have changed owing to population expansion, rapid development of the tourism economy and globalization since the 1990s; people from different ethnic groups might adopt cultural traits from outside their group or lose their own culture at different rates. Human behavioural ecology can help to explain adoption of outgroup cultural values. We compared the adoption of four cultural values, specifically speaking outgroup languages/mother tongue and wearing jeans, in two co-residing ethnic groups, the Mosuo and Han. Both groups are learning outgroup traits, including each other's languages through contact in economic activities, education and kin networks, but only the Mosuo are starting to lose their own language. Males are more likely to adopt outgroup values than females in both groups. Females of the two groups are no different in speaking Mandarin and wearing jeans, whereas males do differ, with Mosuo males being keener to adopt them than Han males. The reason might be that Mosuo men experience more reproductive competition over mates, as Mosuo men have larger reproductive skew than others. Moreover, Mosuo men but not others gain fitness benefits from the adoption of Mandarin (they start reproducing earlier than non-speakers). This article is part of the theme issue 'Social norm change: drivers and consequences'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiao-Qiao He
- College of Life Science, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang, Liaoning 110034, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, People's Republic of China
| | - Jie-Ru Yu
- College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, People's Republic of China
| | - Song-Hua Tang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, People's Republic of China
| | - Ming-Yang Wang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, People's Republic of China
| | - Jia-Jia Wu
- Life Science, Lanzhou University, Tianshui Road, Chengguan Qu, Lanzhou, Gansu Province 730000, People's Republic of China
| | - Yuan Chen
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London WC1H 0BW, UK
| | - Yi Tao
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, People's Republic of China
| | - Ting Ji
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, People's Republic of China
| | - Ruth Mace
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London WC1H 0BW, UK
- IAST, Toulouse School of Economics, Toulouse, Occitanie, 31080, France
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5
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Gallarta-Sáenz P, Pérez-Martínez H, Gómez-Gardeñes J. Emergence of innovations in networked populations with reputation-driven interactions. CHAOS (WOODBURY, N.Y.) 2024; 34:033106. [PMID: 38437870 DOI: 10.1063/5.0189505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2023] [Accepted: 02/12/2024] [Indexed: 03/06/2024]
Abstract
In this work, we analyze how reputation-based interactions influence the emergence of innovations. To do so, we make use of a dynamic model that mimics the discovery process by which, at each time step, a pair of individuals meet and merge their knowledge to eventually result in a novel technology of higher value. The way in which these pairs are brought together is found to be crucial for achieving the highest technological level. Our results show that when the influence of reputation is weak or moderate, it induces an acceleration of the discovery process with respect to the neutral case (purely random coupling). However, an excess of reputation is clearly detrimental, because it leads to an excessive concentration of knowledge in a small set of people, which prevents a diversification of the technologies discovered and, in addition, leads to societies in which a majority of individuals lack technical capabilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo Gallarta-Sáenz
- Department of Condensed Matter Physics, University of Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
- GOTHAM lab, Institute for Biocomputation and Physics of Complex Systems (BIFI), University of Zaragoza, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Hugo Pérez-Martínez
- Department of Condensed Matter Physics, University of Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
- GOTHAM lab, Institute for Biocomputation and Physics of Complex Systems (BIFI), University of Zaragoza, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Jesús Gómez-Gardeñes
- Department of Condensed Matter Physics, University of Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
- GOTHAM lab, Institute for Biocomputation and Physics of Complex Systems (BIFI), University of Zaragoza, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain
- Center for Computational Social Science, University of Kobe, 657-8501 Kobe, Japan
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6
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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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7
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Baumann F, Czaplicka A, Rahwan I. Network structure shapes the impact of diversity in collective learning. Sci Rep 2024; 14:2491. [PMID: 38291091 PMCID: PMC10827803 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-52837-3] [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: 06/30/2023] [Accepted: 01/24/2024] [Indexed: 02/01/2024] Open
Abstract
It is widely believed that diversity arising from different skills enhances the performance of teams, and in particular, their ability to learn and innovate. However, diversity has also been associated with negative effects on the communication and coordination within collectives. Yet, despite the importance of diversity as a concept, we still lack a mechanistic understanding of how its impact is shaped by the underlying social network. To fill this gap, we model skill diversity within a simple model of collective learning and show that its effect on collective performance differs depending on the complexity of the task and the network density. In particular, we find that diversity consistently impairs performance in simple tasks. In contrast, in complex tasks, link density modifies the effect of diversity: while homogeneous populations outperform diverse ones in sparse networks, the opposite is true in dense networks, where diversity boosts collective performance. Our findings also provide insight on how to forge teams in an increasingly interconnected world: the more we are connected, the more we can benefit from diversity to solve complex problems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabian Baumann
- Center for Humans and Machines, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, Berlin, 14195, Germany
| | - Agnieszka Czaplicka
- Center for Humans and Machines, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, Berlin, 14195, Germany
| | - Iyad Rahwan
- Center for Humans and Machines, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, Berlin, 14195, Germany.
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8
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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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9
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Nakata S, Takezawa M. Conditions under which faithful cultural transmission through teaching promotes cumulative cultural evolution. Sci Rep 2023; 13:20986. [PMID: 38017047 PMCID: PMC10684533 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-47018-7] [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: 03/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/08/2023] [Indexed: 11/30/2023] Open
Abstract
It has been argued that teaching promotes the accurate transmission of cultural traits and eventually leads to cumulative cultural evolution (CCE). However, previous studies have questioned this argument. In this study, we modified the action sequences model into a network exploring model with reinforcement learning to examine the conditions under which teaching promotes CCE. Our model incorporates a time trade-off between innovation and teaching. Simulations revealed that the positive influence of teaching on CCE depends on task difficulty. When the task was too difficult and advanced, such that it could not be accomplished through individual learning within a limited time, spending more time on teaching-even at the expense of time for innovation-contributed to CCE. On the contrary, the easier the task, the more time was spent on innovation than on teaching, which contributed to the improvement of performance. These findings suggest that teaching becomes more valuable as cultures become more complex. Therefore, humanity must have co-evolved a complex cumulative culture and teaching that supports cultural fidelity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seiya Nakata
- Graduate School of Humanities and Human Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Masanori Takezawa
- Center for Experimental Research in Social Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
- Center for Human Nature, Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
- Faculty of Humanities and Human Sciences, Hokkaido University, N10W7, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0810, Japan.
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10
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Ren R, He J. Network traits driving knowledge evolution in open collaboration systems. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0291097. [PMID: 37963174 PMCID: PMC10645342 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0291097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 08/22/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Network interpretation illuminates our understanding of the dynamic nature of cultural evolution. Guided by cultural evolution theory, this article explores how people collectively develop knowledge through knowledge collaboration network traits. Using network data from 910 artifacts (the WikiProject Aquarium Fishes articles) over 163 weeks, two studies were designed to understand how collaboration network traits drive population and artifact-level knowledge evolution. The first study examines the selection pressure imposed by10 network traits (against 11 content traits) on population-level evolutionary outcomes. While network traits are vital in identifying natural selection pressure, intriguingly, no significant difference was found between network traits and content traits, challenging a recent theory on network-driven evolution. The second study utilizes time series analysis to reveal that three network traits (embeddedness, connectivity, and redundancy) at a prior time predict future artifact development trajectory. This implies that people collectively explore various positions in a potential solution space, suggesting content exploration as a possible explanation of knowledge evolution. In summary, understanding the interplay between network traits and content exploration provides valuable insights into the mechanisms driving knowledge evolution and offers new avenues for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruqin Ren
- Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jia He
- Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
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11
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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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12
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Zonker J, Padilla-Iglesias C, Djurdjevac Conrad N. Insights into drivers of mobility and cultural dynamics of African hunter-gatherers over the past 120 000 years. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:230495. [PMID: 37920565 PMCID: PMC10618055 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230495] [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: 04/17/2023] [Accepted: 10/11/2023] [Indexed: 11/04/2023]
Abstract
Humans have a unique capacity to innovate, transmit and rely on complex, cumulative culture for survival. While an important body of work has attempted to explore the role of changes in the size and interconnectedness of populations in determining the persistence, diversity and complexity of material culture, results have achieved limited success in explaining the emergence and spatial distribution of cumulative culture over our evolutionary trajectory. Here, we develop a spatio-temporally explicit agent-based model to explore the role of environmentally driven changes in the population dynamics of hunter-gatherer communities in allowing the development, transmission and accumulation of complex culture. By modelling separately demography- and mobility-driven changes in interaction networks, we can assess the extent to which cultural change is driven by different types of population dynamics. We create and validate our model using empirical data from Central Africa spanning 120 000 years. We find that populations would have been able to maintain diverse and elaborate cultural repertoires despite abrupt environmental changes and demographic collapses by preventing isolation through mobility. However, we also reveal that the function of cultural features was also an essential determinant of the effects of environmental or demographic changes on their dynamics. Our work can therefore offer important insights into the role of a foraging lifestyle on the evolution of cumulative culture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johannes Zonker
- Zuse Institute Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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13
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Nyman R, Ormerod P, Bentley RA. A Simple Model of the Rise and Fall of Civilizations. ENTROPY (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 25:1298. [PMID: 37761597 PMCID: PMC10529410 DOI: 10.3390/e25091298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2023] [Revised: 08/24/2023] [Accepted: 08/29/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023]
Abstract
The literature on the fall of civilizations spans from the archaeology of early state societies to the history of the 20th century. Explanations for the fall of civilizations abound, from general extrinsic causes (drought, warfare) to general intrinsic causes (intergroup competition, socioeconomic inequality, collapse of trade networks) and combinations of these, to case-specific explanations for the specific demise of early state societies. Here, we focus on ancient civilizations, which archaeologists typically define by a set of characteristics including hierarchical organization, standardization of specialized knowledge, occupation and technologies, and hierarchical exchange networks and settlements. We take a general approach, with a model suggesting that state societies arise and dissolve through the same processes of innovation. Drawing on the field of cumulative cultural evolution, we demonstrate a model that replicates the essence of a civilization's rise and fall, in which agents at various scales-individuals, households, specialist communities, polities-copy each other in an unbiased manner but with varying degrees of institutional memory, invention rate, and propensity to copy locally versus globally. The results, which produce an increasingly extreme hierarchy of success among agents, suggest that civilizations become increasingly vulnerable to even small increases in propensity to copy locally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rickard Nyman
- Centre for Decision Making Uncertainty, University College London, London WC1H 0PY, UK;
| | - Paul Ormerod
- Department of Computer Science, University College London, London WC1 0PY, UK
- Volterra Partners LLP, London SW9 6DE, UK
| | - R. Alexander Bentley
- College of Emerging and Collaborative Studies, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA;
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14
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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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15
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Thornton A, Mesoudi A. Untenable propositions and alternative avenues.: Comment to "Blind alleys and fruitful pathways in the comparative study of cultural cognition" by Andrew Whiten. Phys Life Rev 2023; 44:51-53. [PMID: 36493629 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2022.11.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2022] [Accepted: 11/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alex Thornton
- Human Behaviour and Cultural Evolution Group, Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, TR10 9FE, UK.
| | - Alex Mesoudi
- Human Behaviour and Cultural Evolution Group, Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, TR10 9FE, UK
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16
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Galesic M, Barkoczi D, Berdahl AM, Biro D, Carbone G, Giannoccaro I, Goldstone RL, Gonzalez C, Kandler A, Kao AB, Kendal R, Kline M, Lee E, Massari GF, Mesoudi A, Olsson H, Pescetelli N, Sloman SJ, Smaldino PE, Stein DL. Beyond collective intelligence: Collective adaptation. J R Soc Interface 2023; 20:20220736. [PMID: 36946092 PMCID: PMC10031425 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2022.0736] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2022] [Accepted: 02/27/2023] [Indexed: 03/23/2023] Open
Abstract
We develop a conceptual framework for studying collective adaptation in complex socio-cognitive systems, driven by dynamic interactions of social integration strategies, social environments and problem structures. Going beyond searching for 'intelligent' collectives, we integrate research from different disciplines and outline modelling approaches that can be used to begin answering questions such as why collectives sometimes fail to reach seemingly obvious solutions, how they change their strategies and network structures in response to different problems and how we can anticipate and perhaps change future harmful societal trajectories. We discuss the importance of considering path dependence, lack of optimization and collective myopia to understand the sometimes counterintuitive outcomes of collective adaptation. We call for a transdisciplinary, quantitative and societally useful social science that can help us to understand our rapidly changing and ever more complex societies, avoid collective disasters and reach the full potential of our ability to organize in adaptive collectives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirta Galesic
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
- Complexity Science Hub Vienna, 1080 Vienna, Austria
- Vermont Complex Systems Center, University of Vermont, Burlington, VM 05405, USA
| | | | - Andrew M. Berdahl
- School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Dora Biro
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK
| | - Giuseppe Carbone
- Department of Mechanics, Mathematics and Management, Politecnico di Bari, Bari 70125, Italy
| | - Ilaria Giannoccaro
- Department of Mechanics, Mathematics and Management, Politecnico di Bari, Bari 70125, Italy
| | - Robert L. Goldstone
- Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
| | - Cleotilde Gonzalez
- Department of Social and Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Anne Kandler
- Department of Mathematics, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig 04103, Germany
| | - Albert B. Kao
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
- Biology Department, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA 02125, USA
| | - Rachel Kendal
- Centre for Coevolution of Biology and Culture, Durham University, Anthropology Department, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
| | - Michelle Kline
- Centre for Culture and Evolution, Division of Psychology, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, UB8 3PH, UK
| | - Eun Lee
- Department of Scientific Computing, Pukyong National University, 45 Yongso-ro, Nam-gu, Busan, 48513, Republic of Korea
| | | | - Alex Mesoudi
- Department of Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn TR10 9FE, UK
| | | | | | - Sabina J. Sloman
- Department of Social and Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
- Department of Computer Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
| | - Paul E. Smaldino
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
- Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, Merced, CA 95343, USA
| | - Daniel L. Stein
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
- Department of Physics and Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, New York, NY 10012, USA
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17
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Kastel N, Hesp C, Ridderinkhof KR, Friston KJ. Small steps for mankind: Modeling the emergence of cumulative culture from joint active inference communication. Front Neurorobot 2023; 16:944986. [PMID: 36699948 PMCID: PMC9868743 DOI: 10.3389/fnbot.2022.944986] [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: 05/16/2022] [Accepted: 11/30/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Although the increase in the use of dynamical modeling in the literature on cultural evolution makes current models more mathematically sophisticated, these models have yet to be tested or validated. This paper provides a testable deep active inference formulation of social behavior and accompanying simulations of cumulative culture in two steps: First, we cast cultural transmission as a bi-directional process of communication that induces a generalized synchrony (operationalized as a particular convergence) between the belief states of interlocutors. Second, we cast social or cultural exchange as a process of active inference by equipping agents with the choice of who to engage in communication with. This induces trade-offs between confirmation of current beliefs and exploration of the social environment. We find that cumulative culture emerges from belief updating (i.e., active inference and learning) in the form of a joint minimization of uncertainty. The emergent cultural equilibria are characterized by a segregation into groups, whose belief systems are actively sustained by selective, uncertainty minimizing, dyadic exchanges. The nature of these equilibria depends sensitively on the precision afforded by various probabilistic mappings in each individual's generative model of their encultured niche.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalie Kastel
- Amsterdam Brain and Cognition Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands,Institute for Advanced Study, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands,Precision Psychiatry and Social Physiology Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada,*Correspondence: Natalie Kastel
| | - Casper Hesp
- Amsterdam Brain and Cognition Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands,Institute for Advanced Study, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands,Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, United Kingdom,Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - K. Richard Ridderinkhof
- Amsterdam Brain and Cognition Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands,Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Karl J. Friston
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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18
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Osiurak F, Claidière N, Federico G. Bringing cumulative technological culture beyond copying versus reasoning. Trends Cogn Sci 2023; 27:30-42. [PMID: 36283920 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2022.09.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2022] [Revised: 09/28/2022] [Accepted: 09/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
The dominant view of cumulative technological culture suggests that high-fidelity transmission rests upon a high-fidelity copying ability, which allows individuals to reproduce the tool-use actions performed by others without needing to understand them (i.e., without causal reasoning). The opposition between copying versus reasoning is well accepted but with little supporting evidence. In this article, we investigate this distinction by examining the cognitive science literature on tool use. Evidence indicates that the ability to reproduce others' tool-use actions requires causal understanding, which questions the copying versus reasoning distinction and the cognitive reality of the so-called copying ability. We conclude that new insights might be gained by considering causal understanding as a key driver of cumulative technological culture.
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Affiliation(s)
- François Osiurak
- Laboratoire d'Étude des Mécanismes Cognitifs, Université de Lyon, 5 avenue Pierre Mendès France, 69676 Bron Cedex, France; Institut Universitaire de France, 1 rue Descartes, 75231 Paris Cedex 5, France.
| | - Nicolas Claidière
- Aix-Marseille Univ, CNRS, LPC, 3 Place Victor Hugo, 13331 Marseille, France
| | - Giovanni Federico
- IRCCS Synlab SDN S.p.A., Via Emanuele Gianturco 113, 80143, Naples, Italy
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19
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Singh M. Subjective selection and the evolution of complex culture. Evol Anthropol 2022; 31:266-280. [PMID: 36165208 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21948] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2020] [Revised: 11/30/2021] [Accepted: 05/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Why is culture the way it is? Here I argue that a major force shaping culture is subjective (cultural) selection, or the selective retention of cultural variants that people subjectively perceive as satisfying their goals. I show that people evaluate behaviors and beliefs according to how useful they are, especially for achieving goals. As they adopt and pass on those variants that seem best, they iteratively craft culture into increasingly effective-seeming forms. I argue that this process drives the development of many cumulatively complex cultural products, including effective technology, magic and ritual, aesthetic traditions, and institutions. I show that it can explain cultural dependencies, such as how certain beliefs create corresponding new practices, and I outline how it interacts with other cultural evolutionary processes. Cultural practices everywhere, from spears to shamanism, develop because people subjectively evaluate them to be effective means of satisfying regular goals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manvir Singh
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, Université de Toulouse 1 Capitole, Toulouse, France
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20
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Vidiella B, Carrignon S, Bentley RA, O’Brien MJ, Valverde S. A cultural evolutionary theory that explains both gradual and punctuated change. J R Soc Interface 2022; 19:20220570. [PMCID: PMC9667142 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2022.0570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Cumulative cultural evolution (CCE) occurs among humans who may be presented with many similar options from which to choose, as well as many social influences and diverse environments. It is unknown what general principles underlie the wide range of CCE dynamics and whether they can all be explained by the same unified paradigm. Here, we present a scalable evolutionary model of discrete choice with social learning, based on a few behavioural science assumptions. This paradigm connects the degree of transparency in social learning to the human tendency to imitate others. Computer simulations and quantitative analysis show the interaction of three primary factors—information transparency, popularity bias and population size—drives the pace of CCE. The model predicts a stable rate of evolutionary change for modest degrees of popularity bias. As popularity bias grows, the transition from gradual to punctuated change occurs, with maladaptive subpopulations arising on their own. When the popularity bias gets too severe, CCE stops. This provides a consistent framework for explaining the rich and complex adaptive dynamics taking place in the real world, such as modern digital media.
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Affiliation(s)
- Blai Vidiella
- Evolution of Networks Lab, Institute of Evolutionary Biology (UPF-CSIC), Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta 37, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Simon Carrignon
- McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3ER, UK
| | | | - Michael J. O’Brien
- Department of Communication, History, and Philosophy and Department of Life Sciences, Texas A&M University–San Antonio, Texas 78224, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri-Columbia, Missouri 65201, USA
| | - Sergi Valverde
- Evolution of Networks Lab, Institute of Evolutionary Biology (UPF-CSIC), Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta 37, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
- European Centre for Living Technology (ECLT), Ca’ Bottacin, 3911 Dorsoduro Calle Crosera, 30123 Venezia, Italy
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21
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Perry SE, Carter A, Foster JG, Nöbel S, Smolla M. What Makes Inventions Become Traditions? ANNUAL REVIEW OF ANTHROPOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1146/annurev-anthro-012121-012127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Although anthropology was the first academic discipline to investigate cultural change, many other disciplines have made noteworthy contributions to understanding what influences the adoption of new behaviors. Drawing on a broad, interdisciplinary literature covering both humans and nonhumans, we examine ( a) which features of behavioral traits make them more transmissible, ( b) which individual characteristics of inventors promote copying of their inventions, ( c) which characteristics of individuals make them more prone to adopting new behaviors, ( d) which characteristics of dyadic relationships promote cultural transmission, ( e) which properties of groups (e.g., network structures) promote transmission of traits, and ( f) which characteristics of groups promote retention, rather than extinction, of cultural traits. One of anthropology's strengths is its readiness to adopt and improve theories and methods from other disciplines, integrating them into a more holistic approach; hence, we identify approaches that might be particularly useful to biological and cultural anthropologists, and knowledge gaps that should be filled.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan E. Perry
- Evolution and Culture Program, Department of Anthropology and Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Alecia Carter
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Jacob G. Foster
- Department of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Sabine Nöbel
- Université Toulouse 1 Capitole and Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, Toulouse, France
- Laboratoire Évolution et Diversité Biologique, CNRS, UMR 5174, IRD, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | - Marco Smolla
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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22
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Williams L, Shultz S, Jensen K. The primate workplace: Cooperative decision-making in human and non-human primates. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.887187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The success of group foraging in primates is not only determined by ecological and social factors. It is also influenced by cognition. Group foraging success is constrained, for instance, by the challenges of coordination, synchrony and decision-making, and it is enhanced by the ability to share, learn from others and coordinate actions. However, what we currently know about the cognition of individuals in groups comes primarily from experiments on dyads, and what we know of the effect of ecological factors on group dynamics comes from larger wild groups. Our current knowledge of primate group behaviour is thus incomplete. In this review, we identify a gap in our knowledge of primate group dynamics between the dyadic studies on primate cooperation and the large group observational studies of behavioural ecology. We highlight the potential for controlled experimental studies on coordination and cooperation in primate groups. Currently, these exist primarily as studies of dyads, and these do not go far enough in testing limits of group-level behaviours. Controlled studies on primate groups beyond the dyad would be highly informative regarding the bounds of non-human primate collaboration. We look to the literature on how humans behave in groups, specifically from organisational psychology, draw parallels between human and non-human group dynamics and highlight approaches that could be applied across disciplines. Organisational psychology is explicitly concerned with the interactions between individuals in a group and the emergent properties at the group-level of these decisions. We propose that some of the major shortfalls in our understanding of primate social cognition and group dynamics can be filled by using approaches developed by organisational psychologists, particularly regarding the effects of group size and composition on group-level cooperation. To illustrate the potential applications, we provide a list of research questions drawn from organisational psychology that could be applied to non-human primates.
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23
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Liu C, Stout D. Inferring cultural reproduction from lithic data: A critical review. Evol Anthropol 2022; 32:83-99. [PMID: 36245296 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21964] [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: 01/05/2022] [Revised: 05/10/2022] [Accepted: 09/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The cultural reproduction of lithic technology, long an implicit assumption of archaeological theories, has garnered increasing attention over the past decades. Major debates ranging from the origins of the human culture capacity to the interpretation of spatiotemporal patterning now make explicit reference to social learning mechanisms and cultural evolutionary dynamics. This burgeoning literature has produced important insights and methodological innovations. However, this rapid growth has sometimes led to confusion and controversy due to an under-examination of underlying theoretical and methodological assumptions. The time is thus ripe for a critical assessment of progress in the study of the cultural reproduction of lithic technology. Here we review recent work addressing the evolutionary origins of human culture and the meaning of artifact variation at both intrasite and intersite levels. We propose that further progress will require a more extended and context-specific evolutionary approach to address the complexity of real-world cultural reproduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheng Liu
- Department of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Dietrich Stout
- Department of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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24
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Foerster V, Asrat A, Bronk Ramsey C, Brown ET, Chapot MS, Deino A, Duesing W, Grove M, Hahn A, Junginger A, Kaboth-Bahr S, Lane CS, Opitz S, Noren A, Roberts HM, Stockhecke M, Tiedemann R, Vidal CM, Vogelsang R, Cohen AS, Lamb HF, Schaebitz F, Trauth MH. Pleistocene climate variability in eastern Africa influenced hominin evolution. NATURE GEOSCIENCE 2022; 15:805-811. [PMID: 36254302 PMCID: PMC9560894 DOI: 10.1038/s41561-022-01032-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2020] [Accepted: 08/18/2022] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Despite more than half a century of hominin fossil discoveries in eastern Africa, the regional environmental context of hominin evolution and dispersal is not well established due to the lack of continuous palaeoenvironmental records from one of the proven habitats of early human populations, particularly for the Pleistocene epoch. Here we present a 620,000-year environmental record from Chew Bahir, southern Ethiopia, which is proximal to key fossil sites. Our record documents the potential influence of different episodes of climatic variability on hominin biological and cultural transformation. The appearance of high anatomical diversity in hominin groups coincides with long-lasting and relatively stable humid conditions from ~620,000 to 275,000 years bp (episodes 1-6), interrupted by several abrupt and extreme hydroclimate perturbations. A pattern of pronounced climatic cyclicity transformed habitats during episodes 7-9 (~275,000-60,000 years bp), a crucial phase encompassing the gradual transition from Acheulean to Middle Stone Age technologies, the emergence of Homo sapiens in eastern Africa and key human social and cultural innovations. Those accumulative innovations plus the alignment of humid pulses between northeastern Africa and the eastern Mediterranean during high-frequency climate oscillations of episodes 10-12 (~60,000-10,000 years bp) could have facilitated the global dispersal of H. sapiens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Verena Foerster
- Institute of Geography Education, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Asfawossen Asrat
- Department of Mining and Geological Engineering, Botswana International University of Science and Technology, Palapye, Botswana
- School of Earth Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | | | - Erik T. Brown
- Large Lakes Observatory and Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN USA
| | - Melissa S. Chapot
- Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, UK
| | - Alan Deino
- Berkeley Geochronology Center, Berkeley, CA USA
| | - Walter Duesing
- Institute of Geosciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Matthew Grove
- Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Annette Hahn
- MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
| | - Annett Junginger
- Department of Geoscience, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | | | | | - Stephan Opitz
- Institute for Geography, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Anders Noren
- LacCore/CSDCO, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN USA
| | - Helen M. Roberts
- Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, UK
| | - Mona Stockhecke
- Large Lakes Observatory and Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN USA
| | - Ralph Tiedemann
- Unit of Evolutionary Biology/Systematic Zoology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Céline M. Vidal
- Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Ralf Vogelsang
- Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Andrew S. Cohen
- Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ USA
| | - Henry F. Lamb
- Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, UK
- Department of Botany, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College, University of Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Frank Schaebitz
- Institute of Geography Education, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Martin H. Trauth
- Institute of Geosciences, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
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25
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Davis S, Rawlings B, Clegg JM, Ikejimba D, Watson-Jones RE, Whiten A, Legare CH. Cognitive flexibility supports the development of cumulative cultural learning in children. Sci Rep 2022; 12:14073. [PMID: 35982124 PMCID: PMC9388526 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-18231-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2022] [Accepted: 08/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The scale of cumulative cultural evolution (CCE) is a defining characteristic of humans. Despite marked scientific interest in CCE, the cognitive underpinnings supporting its development remain understudied. We examined the role cognitive flexibility plays in CCE by studying U.S. children’s (N = 167, 3–5-year-olds) propensity to relinquish an inefficient solution to a problem in favor of a more efficient alternative, and whether they would resist reverting to earlier versions. In contrast to previous work with chimpanzees, most children who first learned to solve a puzzlebox in an inefficient way switched to an observed, more efficient alternative. However, over multiple task interactions, 85% of children who switched reverted to the inefficient method. Moreover, almost all children in a control condition (who first learned the efficient method) switched to the inefficient method. Thus, children were keen to explore an alternative solution but, like chimpanzees, are overall conservative in reverting to their first-learned one.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Davis
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, UK
| | - Bruce Rawlings
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, UK.
| | - Jennifer M Clegg
- Department of Psychology, Texas State University, San Marcos, USA
| | - Daniel Ikejimba
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, USA
| | | | - Andrew Whiten
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, UK
| | - Cristine H Legare
- Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, USA
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26
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Fernández-López de Pablo J, Romano V, Derex M, Gjesfjeld E, Gravel-Miguel C, Hamilton MJ, Migliano AB, Riede F, Lozano S. Understanding hunter-gatherer cultural evolution needs network thinking. Trends Ecol Evol 2022; 37:632-636. [PMID: 35659425 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.04.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2022] [Revised: 04/04/2022] [Accepted: 04/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Hunter-gatherers past and present live in complex societies, and the structure of these can be assessed using social networks. We outline how the integration of new evidence from cultural evolution experiments, computer simulations, ethnography, and archaeology open new research horizons to understand the role of social networks in cultural evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Javier Fernández-López de Pablo
- I.U. de Investigación en Arqueología y Patrimonio Histórico, Edificio Institutos Universitarios, University of Alicante, 03690 San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, Spain.
| | - Valéria Romano
- I.U. de Investigación en Arqueología y Patrimonio Histórico, Edificio Institutos Universitarios, University of Alicante, 03690 San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, Spain; IMBE, Aix Marseille Université, Avignon Université, CNRS, IRD, Marseille, France
| | - Maxime Derex
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, UMR 5314, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Toulouse 31015, France
| | - Erik Gjesfjeld
- McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Downing St., CB2 3DZ Cambridge, UK
| | - Claudine Gravel-Miguel
- Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, PO Box 878404, Tempe, AZ 85287-8404, USA; Département d'Anthropologie, Université de Montréal, 2900 Edouard Montpetit Blvd., Montreal, Quebec H3T 1J4, Canada
| | - Marcus J Hamilton
- Department of Anthropology, University of Texas at San Antonio, 10 Cocke Drive, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA
| | - Andrea Bamberg Migliano
- Institute of Anthropology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Felix Riede
- Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; BIOCHANGE - Center for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114-116, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Sergi Lozano
- Departament d'Història Econòmica, Institucions, Política i Economia Mundial, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Av. Diagonal 690, 08034, Barcelona, Spain; Universitat de Barcelona Institute of Complex Systems (UBICS), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Martí Franqués 1, 08028, Barcelona, Spain.
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27
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Lameira AR, Santamaría-Bonfil G, Galeone D, Gamba M, Hardus ME, Knott CD, Morrogh-Bernard H, Nowak MG, Campbell-Smith G, Wich SA. Sociality predicts orangutan vocal phenotype. Nat Ecol Evol 2022; 6:644-652. [PMID: 35314786 PMCID: PMC9085614 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-022-01689-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2021] [Accepted: 02/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
In humans, individuals' social setting determines which and how language is acquired. Social seclusion experiments show that sociality also guides vocal development in songbirds and marmoset monkeys, but absence of similar great ape data has been interpreted as support to saltational notions for language origin, even if such laboratorial protocols are unethical with great apes. Here we characterize the repertoire entropy of orangutan individuals and show that in the wild, different degrees of sociality across populations are associated with different 'vocal personalities' in the form of distinct regimes of alarm call variants. In high-density populations, individuals are vocally more original and acoustically unpredictable but new call variants are short lived, whereas individuals in low-density populations are more conformative and acoustically consistent but also exhibit more complex call repertoires. Findings provide non-invasive evidence that sociality predicts vocal phenotype in a wild great ape. They prove false hypotheses that discredit great apes as having hardwired vocal development programmes and non-plastic vocal behaviour. Social settings mould vocal output in hominids besides humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adriano R Lameira
- Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK. .,School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK.
| | - Guillermo Santamaría-Bonfil
- Instituto Nacional de Electricidad y Energías Limpias, Gerencia de Tecnologías de la Información, Cuernavaca, México
| | - Deborah Galeone
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Turin, Italy
| | - Marco Gamba
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Turin, Italy
| | | | - Cheryl D Knott
- Department of Anthropology, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Helen Morrogh-Bernard
- Borneo Nature Foundation, Palangka Raya, Indonesia.,College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
| | - Matthew G Nowak
- The PanEco Foundation-Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme, Berg am Irchel, Switzerland.,Department of Anthropology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, USA
| | - Gail Campbell-Smith
- Yayasan Inisiasi Alam Rehabilitasi Indonesia, International Animal Rescue, Ketapang, Indonesia
| | - Serge A Wich
- School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK.,Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
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28
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Mackay A, Armitage SJ, Niespolo EM, Sharp WD, Stahlschmidt MC, Blackwood AF, Boyd KC, Chase BM, Lagle SE, Kaplan CF, Low MA, Martisius NL, McNeill PJ, Moffat I, O'Driscoll CA, Rudd R, Orton J, Steele TE. Environmental influences on human innovation and behavioural diversity in southern Africa 92-80 thousand years ago. Nat Ecol Evol 2022; 6:361-369. [PMID: 35228670 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-022-01667-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2021] [Accepted: 01/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Africa's Middle Stone Age preserves sporadic evidence for novel behaviours among early modern humans, prompting a range of questions about the influence of social and environmental factors on patterns of human behavioural evolution. Here we document a suite of novel adaptations dating approximately 92-80 thousand years before the present at the archaeological site Varsche Rivier 003 (VR003), located in southern Africa's arid Succulent Karoo biome. Distinctive innovations include the production of ostrich eggshell artefacts, long-distance transportation of marine molluscs and systematic use of heat shatter in stone tool production, none of which occur in coeval assemblages at sites in more humid, well-studied regions immediately to the south. The appearance of these novelties at VR003 corresponds with a period of reduced regional wind strength and enhanced summer rainfall, and all of them disappear with increasing winter rainfall dominance after 80 thousand years before the present, following which a pattern of technological similarity emerges at sites throughout the broader region. The results indicate complex and environmentally contingent processes of innovation and cultural transmission in southern Africa during the Middle Stone Age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex Mackay
- Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. .,Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Upper Campus, Rondebosch, Western Cape, South Africa.
| | - Simon J Armitage
- Centre for Quaternary Research, Department of Geography, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK.,SFF Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE), University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Elizabeth M Niespolo
- Berkeley Geochronology Center, Berkeley, CA, USA.,Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.,Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.,Human Evolution Research Institute (HERI), University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | | | - Mareike C Stahlschmidt
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Alexander F Blackwood
- Human Evolution Research Institute (HERI), University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.,Department of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Kelsey C Boyd
- Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Brian M Chase
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution-Montpellier (ISEM), University of Montpellier, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France.,Department of Environmental and Geographical Science, University of Cape Town, Upper Campus, Rondebosch, South Africa
| | - Susan E Lagle
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA.,Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | | | | | - Naomi L Martisius
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA.,Department of Anthropology, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, USA
| | - Patricia J McNeill
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Ian Moffat
- Archaeology, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia
| | - Corey A O'Driscoll
- Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Rachel Rudd
- Archaeology, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia.,School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
| | - Jayson Orton
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of South Africa, Unisa, South Africa
| | - Teresa E Steele
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany. .,Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
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29
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Migliano AB, Vinicius L. The origins of human cumulative culture: from the foraging niche to collective intelligence. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200317. [PMID: 34894737 PMCID: PMC8666907 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2021] [Accepted: 06/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Various studies have investigated cognitive mechanisms underlying culture in humans and other great apes. However, the adaptive reasons for the evolution of uniquely sophisticated cumulative culture in our species remain unclear. We propose that the cultural capabilities of humans are the evolutionary result of a stepwise transition from the ape-like lifestyle of earlier hominins to the foraging niche still observed in extant hunter-gatherers. Recent ethnographic, archaeological and genetic studies have provided compelling evidence that the components of the foraging niche (social egalitarianism, sexual and social division of labour, extensive co-residence and cooperation with unrelated individuals, multilocality, fluid sociality and high between-camp mobility) engendered a unique multilevel social structure where the cognitive mechanisms underlying cultural evolution (high-fidelity transmission, innovation, teaching, recombination, ratcheting) evolved as adaptations. Therefore, multilevel sociality underlies a 'social ratchet' or irreversible task specialization splitting the burden of cultural knowledge across individuals, which may explain why human collective intelligence is uniquely able to produce sophisticated cumulative culture. The foraging niche perspective may explain why a complex gene-culture dual inheritance system evolved uniquely in humans and interprets the cultural, morphological and genetic origins of Homo sapiens as a process of recombination of innovations appearing in differentiated but interconnected populations. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'The emergence of collective knowledge and cumulative culture in animals, humans and machines'.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lucio Vinicius
- Department of Anthropology, University of Zurich, Zurich, ZH, Switzerland
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30
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Whiten A, Biro D, Bredeche N, Garland EC, Kirby S. The emergence of collective knowledge and cumulative culture in animals, humans and machines. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200306. [PMID: 34894738 PMCID: PMC8666904 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Whiten
- Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, School of Psychology and Neuroscience, Scottish Oceans Institute, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
| | - Dora Biro
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.,Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Nicolas Bredeche
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique, ISIR, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Ellen C Garland
- Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution, and Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
| | - Simon Kirby
- Centre for Language Evolution, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
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31
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Kirby S, Tamariz M. Cumulative cultural evolution, population structure and the origin of combinatoriality in human language. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200319. [PMID: 34894728 PMCID: PMC8666903 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Language is the primary repository and mediator of human collective knowledge. A central question for evolutionary linguistics is the origin of the combinatorial structure of language (sometimes referred to as duality of patterning), one of language's basic design features. Emerging sign languages provide a promising arena to study the emergence of language properties. Many, but not all such sign languages exhibit combinatoriality, which generates testable hypotheses about its source. We hypothesize that combinatoriality is the inevitable result of learning biases in cultural transmission, and that population structure explains differences across languages. We construct an agent-based model with population turnover. Bayesian learning agents with a prior preference for compressible languages (modelling a pressure for language learnability) communicate in pairs under pressure to reduce ambiguity. We include two transmission conditions: agents learn the language either from the oldest agent or from an agent in the middle of their lifespan. Results suggest that (1) combinatoriality emerges during iterated cultural transmission under concurrent pressures for simplicity and expressivity and (2) population dynamics affect the rate of evolution, which is faster when agents learn from other learners than when they learn from old individuals. This may explain its absence in some emerging sign languages. We discuss the consequences of this finding for cultural evolution, highlighting the interplay of population-level, functional and cognitive factors. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'The emergence of collective knowledge and cumulative culture in animals, humans and machines'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Kirby
- Centre for Language Evolution, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Monica Tamariz
- Department of Psychology, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK
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32
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Mangalam M, Fragaszy DM, Wagman JB, Day BM, Kelty-Stephen DG, Bongers RM, Stout DW, Osiurak F. On the psychological origins of tool use. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 134:104521. [PMID: 34998834 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2021] [Revised: 12/01/2021] [Accepted: 01/01/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
The ubiquity of tool use in human life has generated multiple lines of scientific and philosophical investigation to understand the development and expression of humans' engagement with tools and its relation to other dimensions of human experience. However, existing literature on tool use faces several epistemological challenges in which the same set of questions generate many different answers. At least four critical questions can be identified, which are intimately intertwined-(1) What constitutes tool use? (2) What psychological processes underlie tool use in humans and nonhuman animals? (3) Which of these psychological processes are exclusive to tool use? (4) Which psychological processes involved in tool use are exclusive to Homo sapiens? To help advance a multidisciplinary scientific understanding of tool use, six author groups representing different academic disciplines (e.g., anthropology, psychology, neuroscience) and different theoretical perspectives respond to each of these questions, and then point to the direction of future work on tool use. We find that while there are marked differences among the responses of the respective author groups to each question, there is a surprising degree of agreement about many essential concepts and questions. We believe that this interdisciplinary and intertheoretical discussion will foster a more comprehensive understanding of tool use than any one of these perspectives (or any one of these author groups) would (or could) on their own.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madhur Mangalam
- Department of Physical Therapy, Movement and Rehabilitation Science, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
| | | | - Jeffrey B Wagman
- Department of Psychology, Illinois State University, Normal, IL 61761, USA
| | - Brian M Day
- Department of Psychology, Butler University, Indianapolis, IN 46208, USA
| | | | - Raoul M Bongers
- Department of Human Movement Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, 9713 GZ Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Dietrich W Stout
- Department of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - François Osiurak
- Laboratoire d'Etude des Mécanismes Cognitifs, Université de Lyon, Lyon 69361, France; Institut Universitaire de France, Paris 75231, France
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33
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Stout D. The Cognitive Science of Technology. Trends Cogn Sci 2021; 25:964-977. [PMID: 34362661 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2021.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2021] [Revised: 07/09/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2021] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Technology is central to human life but hard to define and study. This review synthesizes advances in fields from anthropology to evolutionary biology and neuroscience to propose an interdisciplinary cognitive science of technology. The foundation of this effort is an evolutionarily motivated definition of technology that highlights three key features: material production, social collaboration, and cultural reproduction. This broad scope respects the complexity of the subject but poses a challenge for theoretical unification. Addressing this challenge requires a comparative approach to reduce the diversity of real-world technological cognition to a smaller number of recurring processes and relationships. To this end, a synthetic perceptual-motor hypothesis (PMH) for the evolutionary-developmental-cultural construction of technological cognition is advanced as an initial target for investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dietrich Stout
- Department of Anthropology, Emory University, 1557 Dickey Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
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34
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Singh M, Acerbi A, Caldwell CA, Danchin É, Isabel G, Molleman L, Scott-Phillips T, Tamariz M, van den Berg P, van Leeuwen EJC, Derex M. Beyond social learning. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200050. [PMID: 33993759 PMCID: PMC8126463 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2020] [Accepted: 01/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Cultural evolution requires the social transmission of information. For this reason, scholars have emphasized social learning when explaining how and why culture evolves. Yet cultural evolution results from many mechanisms operating in concert. Here, we argue that the emphasis on social learning has distracted scholars from appreciating both the full range of mechanisms contributing to cultural evolution and how interactions among those mechanisms and other factors affect the output of cultural evolution. We examine understudied mechanisms and other factors and call for a more inclusive programme of investigation that probes multiple levels of the organization, spanning the neural, cognitive-behavioural and populational levels. To guide our discussion, we focus on factors involved in three core topics of cultural evolution: the emergence of culture, the emergence of cumulative cultural evolution and the design of cultural traits. Studying mechanisms across levels can add explanatory power while revealing gaps and misconceptions in our knowledge. This article is part of the theme issue 'Foundations of cultural evolution'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manvir Singh
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, Toulouse 31015, France
| | - Alberto Acerbi
- Center for Culture and Evolution, Brunel University London, Uxbridge UB8 3PH, UK
| | | | - Étienne Danchin
- Laboratoire Évolution and Diversité Biologique (EDB, UMR5174), Université Fédérale de Toulouse, CNRS, IRD, 31062 Toulouse cedex 9, France
| | - Guillaume Isabel
- Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Centre de Biologie Intégrative, Université Fédérale de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, 31062 Toulouse cedex 9, France
| | - Lucas Molleman
- Amsterdam Brain and Cognition, University of Amsterdam, 1018 WT Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Thom Scott-Phillips
- Department of Cognitive Science, Central European University, Budapest 1051, Hungary
| | - Monica Tamariz
- Department of Psychology, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK
| | | | - Edwin J. C. van Leeuwen
- Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
- Centre for Research and Conservation, Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, 2018 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Maxime Derex
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, Toulouse 31015, France
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR 5314, Toulouse 31015, France
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35
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Abstract
Behavioral genetics and cultural evolution have both revolutionized our understanding of human behavior-largely independent of each other. Here we reconcile these two fields under a dual inheritance framework, offering a more nuanced understanding of the interaction between genes and culture. Going beyond typical analyses of gene-environment interactions, we describe the cultural dynamics that shape these interactions by shaping the environment and population structure. A cultural evolutionary approach can explain, for example, how factors such as rates of innovation and diffusion, density of cultural sub-groups, and tolerance for behavioral diversity impact heritability estimates, thus yielding predictions for different social contexts. Moreover, when cumulative culture functionally overlaps with genes, genetic effects become masked, unmasked, or even reversed, and the causal effects of an identified gene become confounded with features of the cultural environment. The manner of confounding is specific to a particular society at a particular time, but a WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic) sampling problem obscures this boundedness. Cultural evolutionary dynamics are typically missing from models of gene-to-phenotype causality, hindering generalizability of genetic effects across societies and across time. We lay out a reconciled framework and use it to predict the ways in which heritability should differ between societies, between socioeconomic levels and other groupings within some societies but not others, and over the life course. An integrated cultural evolutionary behavioral genetic approach cuts through the nature-nurture debate and helps resolve controversies in topics such as IQ.
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36
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Mesoudi A. Cultural selection and biased transformation: two dynamics of cultural evolution. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200053. [PMID: 33993764 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Here, I discuss two broad versions of human cultural evolution which currently exist in the literature and which emphasize different underlying dynamics. One, which originates in population-genetic-style modelling, emphasizes how cultural selection causes some cultural variants to be favoured and gradually increase in frequency over others. The other, which draws more from cognitive science, holds that cultural change is driven by the biased transformation of cultural variants by individuals in non-random and consistent directions. Despite claims that cultural evolution is characterized by one or the other of these dynamics, these are neither mutually exclusive nor a dichotomy. Different domains of human culture are likely to be more or less strongly weighted towards cultural selection or biased transformation. Identifying cultural dynamics in real-world cultural data is challenging given that they can generate the same population-level patterns, such as directional change or cross-cultural stability, and the same cognitive and emotional mechanisms may underlie both cultural selection and biased transformation. Nevertheless, fine-grained historical analysis and laboratory experiments, combined with formal models to generate quantitative predictions, offer the best way of distinguishing them. This article is part of the theme issue 'Foundations of cultural evolution'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex Mesoudi
- Human Behaviour and Cultural Evolution Group, Biosciences, University of Exeter, Penryn TR10 9FE, UK
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37
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Lipo CP, DiNapoli RJ, Madsen ME, Hunt TL. Population structure drives cultural diversity in finite populations: A hypothesis for localized community patterns on Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile). PLoS One 2021; 16:e0250690. [PMID: 33979335 PMCID: PMC8115772 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0250690] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2020] [Accepted: 04/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding how and why cultural diversity changes in human populations remains a central topic of debate in cultural evolutionary studies. Due to the effects of drift, small and isolated populations face evolutionary challenges in the retention of richness and diversity of cultural information. Such variation, however, can have significant fitness consequences, particularly when environmental conditions change unpredictably, such that knowledge about past environments may be key to long-term persistence. Factors that can shape the outcomes of drift within a population include the semantics of the traits as well as spatially structured social networks. Here, we use cultural transmission simulations to explore how social network structure and interaction affect the rate of trait retention and extinction. Using Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile) as an example, we develop a model-based hypothesis for how the structural constraints of communities living in small, isolated populations had dramatic effects and likely led to preventing the loss of cultural information in both community patterning and technology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carl P. Lipo
- Department of Anthropology, Environmental Studies Program, Harpur College of Arts and Sciences, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, United States of America
| | - Robert J. DiNapoli
- Department of Anthropology, Environmental Studies Program, Harpur College of Arts and Sciences, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, United States of America
| | - Mark E. Madsen
- Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States of America
| | - Terry L. Hunt
- The Honors College and School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States of America
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38
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39
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Cantor M, Chimento M, Smeele SQ, He P, Papageorgiou D, Aplin LM, Farine DR. Social network architecture and the tempo of cumulative cultural evolution. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20203107. [PMID: 33715438 PMCID: PMC7944107 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.3107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to build upon previous knowledge-cumulative cultural evolution-is a hallmark of human societies. While cumulative cultural evolution depends on the interaction between social systems, cognition and the environment, there is increasing evidence that cumulative cultural evolution is facilitated by larger and more structured societies. However, such effects may be interlinked with patterns of social wiring, thus the relative importance of social network architecture as an additional factor shaping cumulative cultural evolution remains unclear. By simulating innovation and diffusion of cultural traits in populations with stereotyped social structures, we disentangle the relative contributions of network architecture from those of population size and connectivity. We demonstrate that while more structured networks, such as those found in multilevel societies, can promote the recombination of cultural traits into high-value products, they also hinder spread and make products more likely to go extinct. We find that transmission mechanisms are therefore critical in determining the outcomes of cumulative cultural evolution. Our results highlight the complex interaction between population size, structure and transmission mechanisms, with important implications for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mauricio Cantor
- Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Am Obstberg 1, Radolfzell 78315, Konstanz, Germany.,Departamento de Ecologia e Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil
| | - Michael Chimento
- Cognitive and Cultural Ecology Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Am Obstberg 1, Radolfzell 78315, Konstanz, Germany.,Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.,Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Simeon Q Smeele
- Cognitive and Cultural Ecology Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Am Obstberg 1, Radolfzell 78315, Konstanz, Germany.,Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Peng He
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.,Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.,Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany.,Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Danai Papageorgiou
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.,Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.,Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany.,Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Lucy M Aplin
- Cognitive and Cultural Ecology Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Am Obstberg 1, Radolfzell 78315, Konstanz, Germany.,Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Damien R Farine
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.,Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.,Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany.,Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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40
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Jones JH, Ready E, Pisor AC. Want climate-change adaptation? Evolutionary theory can help. Am J Hum Biol 2020; 33:e23539. [PMID: 33247621 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23539] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2020] [Revised: 11/04/2020] [Accepted: 11/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The idea of adaptation, in which an organism or population becomes better suited to its environment, is used in a variety of disciplines. Originating in evolutionary biology, adaptation has been a central theme in biological anthropology and human ecology. More recently, the study of adaptation in the context of climate change has become an important topic of research in the social sciences. While there are clearly commonalities in the different uses of the concept of adaptation in these fields, there are also substantial differences. We describe these differences and suggest that the study of climate-change adaptation could benefit from a re-integration with biological and evolutionary conceptions of human adaptation. This integration would allow us to employ the substantial theoretical tools of evolutionary biology and anthropology to understand what promotes or impedes adaptation. The evolutionary perspective on adaptation focuses on diversity because diversity drives adaptive evolution. Population structures are also critical in facilitating or preventing adaptation to local environmental conditions. This suggests that climate-change adaptation should focus on the sources of innovation and social structures that nurture innovations and allow them to spread. Truly innovative ideas are likely to arise on the periphery of cohesive social groups and spread inward. The evolutionary perspective also suggests that we pay careful attention to correlated traits, which can distort adaptive trajectories, as well as to the importance of risk management in adaptations to variable or uncertain environments. Finally, we suggest that climate-change adaptation could benefit from a broader study of how local groups adapt to their dynamic environments, a process we call "autochthonous adaptation."
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Affiliation(s)
- James Holland Jones
- Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Elspeth Ready
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Anne C Pisor
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.,Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA
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Lucas AJ, Kings M, Whittle D, Davey E, Happé F, Caldwell CA, Thornton A. The value of teaching increases with tool complexity in cumulative cultural evolution. Proc Biol Sci 2020. [PMID: 33203332 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1885rspb20201885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Human cumulative cultural evolution (CCE) is recognized as a powerful ecological and evolutionary force, but its origins are poorly understood. The long-standing view that CCE requires specialized social learning processes such as teaching has recently come under question, and cannot explain why such processes evolved in the first place. An alternative, but largely untested, hypothesis is that these processes gradually coevolved with an increasing reliance on complex tools. To address this, we used large-scale transmission chain experiments (624 participants), to examine the role of different learning processes in generating cumulative improvements in two tool types of differing complexity. Both tool types increased in efficacy across experimental generations, but teaching only provided an advantage for the more complex tools. Moreover, while the simple tools tended to converge on a common design, the more complex tools maintained a diversity of designs. These findings indicate that the emergence of cumulative culture is not strictly dependent on, but may generate selection for, teaching. As reliance on increasingly complex tools grew, so too would selection for teaching, facilitating the increasingly open-ended evolution of cultural artefacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda J Lucas
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Michael Kings
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Devi Whittle
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Emma Davey
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Francesca Happé
- Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, UK
| | | | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus TR10 9FE, UK
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Lucas AJ, Kings M, Whittle D, Davey E, Happé F, Caldwell CA, Thornton A. The value of teaching increases with tool complexity in cumulative cultural evolution. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20201885. [PMID: 33203332 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Human cumulative cultural evolution (CCE) is recognized as a powerful ecological and evolutionary force, but its origins are poorly understood. The long-standing view that CCE requires specialized social learning processes such as teaching has recently come under question, and cannot explain why such processes evolved in the first place. An alternative, but largely untested, hypothesis is that these processes gradually coevolved with an increasing reliance on complex tools. To address this, we used large-scale transmission chain experiments (624 participants), to examine the role of different learning processes in generating cumulative improvements in two tool types of differing complexity. Both tool types increased in efficacy across experimental generations, but teaching only provided an advantage for the more complex tools. Moreover, while the simple tools tended to converge on a common design, the more complex tools maintained a diversity of designs. These findings indicate that the emergence of cumulative culture is not strictly dependent on, but may generate selection for, teaching. As reliance on increasingly complex tools grew, so too would selection for teaching, facilitating the increasingly open-ended evolution of cultural artefacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda J Lucas
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Michael Kings
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Devi Whittle
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Emma Davey
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Francesca Happé
- Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, UK
| | | | - Alex Thornton
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus TR10 9FE, UK
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Hayes SC, Hofmann SG, Stanton CE. Process-based functional analysis can help behavioral science step up to novel challenges: COVID - 19 as an example. JOURNAL OF CONTEXTUAL BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE 2020; 18:128-145. [PMID: 32864323 PMCID: PMC7445588 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcbs.2020.08.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2020] [Revised: 08/18/2020] [Accepted: 08/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Historically speaking, the behavioral tradition advanced functional analysis as a method of applying existing principles to novel situations. In the more than half a century since that idea was advanced, functional analysis has either fallen into disuse, as in most of applied psychology, or has been used but modified to a point that is virtually inapplicable elsewhere, as in applied behavior analysis work with severe developmental disabilities. In this paper we argue that the current challenges with COVID-19 present an ideal time to reinvigorate functional analysis by combining it with the growing body of evidence on processes of change, organized under an extended evolutionary meta-model. This new form of process-based functional analysis takes advantage of the strengths of contextual behavioral science, while opening avenues of fruitful interaction with other wings of intervention and evolutionary science more generally. Using the psychological flexibility model as an example, we show how this approach solves the key problems of classical functional analysis and helps professionals deal with novel challenges such as those posed by COVID-19. Humanity is now facing an extraordinary and unexpected situation. Behavioral science needs to rise to that challenge in a way that provides both immediate practical value and greater assurance of long-term benefits for our understanding of human complexity more generally. Process-based functional analysis can be a vehicle to do just that.
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