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Li S, Gulisija D, Carja O. The evolutionary cost of homophily: social stratification facilitates stable variant coexistence and increased rates of evolution in host-associated pathogens. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.07.14.603415. [PMID: 39071438 PMCID: PMC11275799 DOI: 10.1101/2024.07.14.603415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/30/2024]
Abstract
Coexistence of multiple strains of a pathogen in a host population can present significant challenges to vaccine development or treatment efficacy. Here we discuss a novel mechanism that can increase rates of long-lived strain polymorphism, rooted in the presence of social structure in a host population. We show that social preference of interaction, in conjunction with differences in immunity between host subgroups, can exert varying selection pressure on pathogen strains, creating a balancing mechanism that supports stable viral coexistence, independent of other known mechanisms. We use population genetic models to study rates of pathogen heterozygosity as a function of population size, host population composition, mutant strain fitness differences and host social preferences of interaction. We also show that even small periodic epochs of host population stratification can lead to elevated strain coexistence. These results are robust to varying social preferences of interaction, overall differences in strain fitnesses, and spatial heterogeneity in host population composition. Our results highlight the role of host population social stratification in increasing rates of pathogen strain diversity, with effects that should be considered when designing policies or treatments with a long-term view of curbing pathogen evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuanger Li
- Computational Biology Department, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Current affiliation: Ecology and Evolution Graduate Program, University of Chicago, Chicago, USA
| | - Davorka Gulisija
- Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
| | - Oana Carja
- Computational Biology Department, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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2
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Friston KJ, Parr T, Heins C, Constant A, Friedman D, Isomura T, Fields C, Verbelen T, Ramstead M, Clippinger J, Frith CD. Federated inference and belief sharing. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2024; 156:105500. [PMID: 38056542 PMCID: PMC11139662 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105500] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2023] [Revised: 11/08/2023] [Accepted: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 12/08/2023]
Abstract
This paper concerns the distributed intelligence or federated inference that emerges under belief-sharing among agents who share a common world-and world model. Imagine, for example, several animals keeping a lookout for predators. Their collective surveillance rests upon being able to communicate their beliefs-about what they see-among themselves. But, how is this possible? Here, we show how all the necessary components arise from minimising free energy. We use numerical studies to simulate the generation, acquisition and emergence of language in synthetic agents. Specifically, we consider inference, learning and selection as minimising the variational free energy of posterior (i.e., Bayesian) beliefs about the states, parameters and structure of generative models, respectively. The common theme-that attends these optimisation processes-is the selection of actions that minimise expected free energy, leading to active inference, learning and model selection (a.k.a., structure learning). We first illustrate the role of communication in resolving uncertainty about the latent states of a partially observed world, on which agents have complementary perspectives. We then consider the acquisition of the requisite language-entailed by a likelihood mapping from an agent's beliefs to their overt expression (e.g., speech)-showing that language can be transmitted across generations by active learning. Finally, we show that language is an emergent property of free energy minimisation, when agents operate within the same econiche. We conclude with a discussion of various perspectives on these phenomena; ranging from cultural niche construction, through federated learning, to the emergence of complexity in ensembles of self-organising systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karl J Friston
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, UK; VERSES AI Research Lab, Los Angeles, CA 90016, USA.
| | - Thomas Parr
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, UK
| | - Conor Heins
- VERSES AI Research Lab, Los Angeles, CA 90016, USA; Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, 78457 Konstanz, Germany; Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, 78457 Konstanz, Germany; Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Axel Constant
- VERSES AI Research Lab, Los Angeles, CA 90016, USA; School of Engineering and Informatics, The University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
| | - Daniel Friedman
- Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA; Active Inference Institute, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Takuya Isomura
- Brain Intelligence Theory Unit, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - Chris Fields
- Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
| | - Tim Verbelen
- VERSES AI Research Lab, Los Angeles, CA 90016, USA
| | - Maxwell Ramstead
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, UK; VERSES AI Research Lab, Los Angeles, CA 90016, USA
| | | | - Christopher D Frith
- Institute of Philosophy, School of Advanced Studies, University of London, UK
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3
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Anderson KAM, Creanza N. Internal and external factors affecting vaccination coverage: Modeling the interactions between vaccine hesitancy, accessibility, and mandates. PLOS GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH 2023; 3:e0001186. [PMID: 37792691 PMCID: PMC10550134 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0001186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2022] [Accepted: 08/22/2023] [Indexed: 10/06/2023]
Abstract
Society, culture, and individual motivations affect human decisions regarding their health behaviors and preventative care, and health-related perceptions and behaviors can change at the population level as cultures evolve. An increase in vaccine hesitancy, an individual mindset informed within a cultural context, has resulted in a decrease in vaccination coverage and an increase in vaccine-preventable disease (VPD) outbreaks, particularly in developed countries where vaccination rates are generally high. Understanding local vaccination cultures, which evolve through an interaction between beliefs and behaviors and are influenced by the broader cultural landscape, is critical to fostering public health. Vaccine mandates and vaccine inaccessibility are two external factors that interact with individual beliefs to affect vaccine-related behaviors. To better understand the population dynamics of vaccine hesitancy, it is important to study how these external factors could shape a population's vaccination decisions and affect the broader health culture. Using a mathematical model of cultural evolution, we explore the effects of vaccine mandates, vaccine inaccessibility, and varying cultural selection trajectories on a population's level of vaccine hesitancy and vaccination behavior. We show that vaccine mandates can lead to a phenomenon in which high vaccine hesitancy co-occurs with high vaccination coverage, and that high vaccine confidence can be maintained even in areas where access to vaccines is limited.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kerri-Ann M. Anderson
- Department of Biological Sciences and Evolutionary Studies Initiative, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Nicole Creanza
- Department of Biological Sciences and Evolutionary Studies Initiative, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
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4
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Denton KK, Kendal JR, Ihara Y, Feldman MW. Cultural niche construction with application to fertility control: A model for education and social transmission of contraceptive use. Theor Popul Biol 2023; 153:1-14. [PMID: 37321354 DOI: 10.1016/j.tpb.2023.06.001] [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: 02/02/2023] [Revised: 06/05/2023] [Accepted: 06/07/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
The evolution of a cultural trait may be affected by niche construction, or changes in the selective environment of that trait due to the inheritance of other cultural traits that make up a cultural background. This study investigates the evolution of a cultural trait, such as the acceptance of the idea of contraception, that is both vertically and horizontally transmitted within a homogeneous social network. Individuals may conform to the norm, and adopters of the trait have fewer progeny than others. In addition, adoption of this trait is affected by a vertically transmitted aspect of the cultural background, such as the preference for high or low levels of education. Our model shows that such cultural niche construction can facilitate the spread of traits with low Darwinian fitness while providing an environment that counteracts conformity to norms. In addition, niche construction can facilitate the 'demographic transition' by making reduced fertility socially accepted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaleda K Denton
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, United States of America.
| | - Jeremy R Kendal
- University of Durham, Department of Anthropology, Durham DH1 3LE, UK.
| | - Yasuo Ihara
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
| | - Marcus W Feldman
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, United States of America.
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5
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Tureček P, Kozák M, Slavík J. How subcultures emerge. EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES 2023; 5:e24. [PMID: 37587934 PMCID: PMC10426082 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2023.19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2022] [Revised: 06/20/2023] [Accepted: 07/05/2023] [Indexed: 08/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Sympatric speciation is typically presented as a rare phenomenon, but urban subcultures frequently emerge even in the absence of geographic isolation. Is there perhaps something that culture has but biological inheritance does not that would account for this difference? We present a novel model that combines assortative interaction and multidimensional inheritance. Our computer simulations show that assortment alone can lead to the formation of cohesive clusters of individuals with low within-group and large between-group variability even in the absence of a spatial separation or disruptive natural selection. All it takes is a proportionality between the variance of inputs (cultural 'parents') and outputs (cultural 'offspring'). We argue that variability-dependent inheritance cannot be easily accomplished by genes alone, but it may be the norm, not the exception, in the transmission of culture between humans. This model explains the frequent emergence of subcultures and behavioural clustering in our species and possibly also other cultural animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Petr Tureček
- Department of Philosophy and History of Science, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague 2, 128 00, Czech Republic
- Center for Theoretical Study, Charles University and Czech Academy of Sciences, Jilská 1, Prague 1, 110 00, Czech Republic
| | - Michal Kozák
- Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Trojanova 13, 120 00, Prague 2, Czech Republic
| | - Jakub Slavík
- Institute of Information Theory and Automation, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Pod Vodárenskou věží 4, 180 00, Prague 8, Czech Republic
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Vaill M, Kawanishi K, Varki N, Gagneux P, Varki A. Comparative physiological anthropogeny: exploring molecular underpinnings of distinctly human phenotypes. Physiol Rev 2023; 103:2171-2229. [PMID: 36603157 PMCID: PMC10151058 DOI: 10.1152/physrev.00040.2021] [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: 11/05/2021] [Revised: 12/26/2022] [Accepted: 12/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Anthropogeny is a classic term encompassing transdisciplinary investigations of the origins of the human species. Comparative anthropogeny is a systematic comparison of humans and other living nonhuman hominids (so-called "great apes"), aiming to identify distinctly human features in health and disease, with the overall goal of explaining human origins. We begin with a historical perspective, briefly describing how the field progressed from the earliest evolutionary insights to the current emphasis on in-depth molecular and genomic investigations of "human-specific" biology and an increased appreciation for cultural impacts on human biology. While many such genetic differences between humans and other hominids have been revealed over the last two decades, this information remains insufficient to explain the most distinctive phenotypic traits distinguishing humans from other living hominids. Here we undertake a complementary approach of "comparative physiological anthropogeny," along the lines of the preclinical medical curriculum, i.e., beginning with anatomy and considering each physiological system and in each case considering genetic and molecular components that are relevant. What is ultimately needed is a systematic comparative approach at all levels from molecular to physiological to sociocultural, building networks of related information, drawing inferences, and generating testable hypotheses. The concluding section will touch on distinctive considerations in the study of human evolution, including the importance of gene-culture interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Vaill
- Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
- Glycobiology Research and Training Center, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | - Kunio Kawanishi
- Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
- Department of Experimental Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
| | - Nissi Varki
- Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
- Glycobiology Research and Training Center, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
- Department of Pathology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | - Pascal Gagneux
- Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
- Glycobiology Research and Training Center, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
- Department of Pathology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | - Ajit Varki
- Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
- Glycobiology Research and Training Center, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
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7
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Pichkar Y, Creanza N. Fine-scale cultural variation reinforces genetic structure in England. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2023. [PMID: 37377289 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24789] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/01/2023] [Revised: 04/11/2023] [Accepted: 05/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Genes and languages both contain signatures of human evolution, population movement, and demographic history. Cultural traits like language are transmitted by interactions between people, and these traits influence how people interact. In particular, if groups of people differentiate each other based on some qualities of their cultures, and if these qualities are passed to the next generation, then this differentiation can result in barriers to gene flow. Previous work finds such barriers to gene flow between groups that speak different languages, and we explore this phenomenon further: can more subtle cultural differences also produce genetic structure in a population? We focus on whether subtle, dialect-level linguistic differences in England have influenced genetic population structure, likely by affecting mating preferences. MATERIALS AND METHODS We analyze spatially dense linguistic and genetic data-both of which independently contain spatially structured variation in England-to examine whether the cultural differences represented by variation in English phonology colocalize with higher genetic rates of change. RESULTS We find that genetic variation and dialect markers have similar spatial distributions on a country-wide scale, and that throughout England, linguistic boundaries colocalize with the boundaries of genetic clusters found using fineSTRUCTURE. DISCUSSION This gene-language covariation, in the absence of geographic barriers that could coordinate cultural and genetic differentiation, suggests that similar social forces influenced both dialect boundaries and the genetic population structure of England.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yakov Pichkar
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- Evolutionary Studies Initiative, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Nicole Creanza
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- Evolutionary Studies Initiative, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
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8
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Anderson KA, Creanza N. A cultural evolutionary model of the interaction between parental beliefs and behaviors, with applications to vaccine hesitancy. Theor Popul Biol 2023:S0040-5809(23)00025-4. [PMID: 37150257 DOI: 10.1016/j.tpb.2023.04.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2022] [Revised: 03/15/2023] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Health perceptions and health-related behaviors can change at the population level as cultures evolve. In the last decade, despite the proven efficacy of vaccines, the developed world has seen a resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs) such as measles, pertussis, and polio. Vaccine hesitancy, an individual attitude influenced by historical, political, and socio-cultural forces, is believed to be a primary factor responsible for decreasing vaccine coverage, thereby increasing the risk and occurrence of VPD outbreaks. Behavior change models have been increasingly employed to understand disease dynamics and intervention effectiveness. However, since health behaviors are culturally influenced, it is valuable to examine them within a cultural evolution context. Here, using a mathematical modeling framework, we explore the effects of cultural evolution on vaccine hesitancy and vaccination behavior. With this model, we shed light on facets of cultural evolution (vertical transmission, community influences, homophily, etc.) that promote the spread of vaccine hesitancy, ultimately affecting levels of vaccination coverage and VPD outbreak risk in a population. In addition, we present our model as a generalizable framework for exploring cultural evolution when humans' beliefs influence, but do not strictly dictate, their behaviors. This model offers a means of exploring how parents' potentially conflicting beliefs and cultural traits could affect their children's health and fitness. We show that vaccine confidence and vaccine-conferred benefits can both be driving forces of vaccine coverage. We also demonstrate that an assortative preference among vaccine-hesitant individuals can lead to increased vaccine hesitancy and lower vaccine coverage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kerri-Ann Anderson
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37212, USA; Evolutionary Studies Initiative, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37212, USA
| | - Nicole Creanza
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37212, USA; Evolutionary Studies Initiative, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37212, USA.
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9
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Ingold T. Evolution without Inheritance. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1086/722437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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10
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Cultural dynamics add multiple layers of complexity to behavioural genetics. Behav Brain Sci 2022; 45:e161. [PMID: 36098445 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x21001783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
As emphasized in early cultural evolutionary theory, understanding heritability of human traits - especially, behavioural traits - is difficult. The target article describes important ways that culture can enhance, or obscure, signatures of heritability in genetic studies. Here, we discuss the utility of calculating heritability for behavioural traits influenced by cultural evolution and point to conceptual and technical complications to consider in future models.
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11
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McParlin Z, Cerritelli F, Friston KJ, Esteves JE. Therapeutic Alliance as Active Inference: The Role of Therapeutic Touch and Synchrony. Front Psychol 2022; 13:783694. [PMID: 35250723 PMCID: PMC8892201 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.783694] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2021] [Accepted: 01/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Recognizing and aligning individuals' unique adaptive beliefs or "priors" through cooperative communication is critical to establishing a therapeutic relationship and alliance. Using active inference, we present an empirical integrative account of the biobehavioral mechanisms that underwrite therapeutic relationships. A significant mode of establishing cooperative alliances-and potential synchrony relationships-is through ostensive cues generated by repetitive coupling during dynamic touch. Established models speak to the unique role of affectionate touch in developing communication, interpersonal interactions, and a wide variety of therapeutic benefits for patients of all ages; both neurophysiologically and behaviorally. The purpose of this article is to argue for the importance of therapeutic touch in establishing a therapeutic alliance and, ultimately, synchrony between practitioner and patient. We briefly overview the importance and role of therapeutic alliance in prosocial and clinical interactions. We then discuss how cooperative communication and mental state alignment-in intentional communication-are accomplished using active inference. We argue that alignment through active inference facilitates synchrony and communication. The ensuing account is extended to include the role of (C-) tactile afferents in realizing the beneficial effect of therapeutic synchrony. We conclude by proposing a method for synchronizing the effects of touch using the concept of active inference.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoe McParlin
- Foundation COME Collaboration, Clinical-Based Human Research Department, Pescara, Italy
| | - Francesco Cerritelli
- Foundation COME Collaboration, Clinical-Based Human Research Department, Pescara, Italy
| | - Karl J. Friston
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom
| | - Jorge E. Esteves
- Foundation COME Collaboration, Clinical-Based Human Research Department, Pescara, Italy
- Malta ICOM Educational Ltd., Gzira, Malta
- Research Department, University College of Osteopathy, London, United Kingdom
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12
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Versluys TMM, Flintham EO, Mas-Sandoval A, Savolainen V. Why do we pick similar mates, or do we? Biol Lett 2021; 17:20210463. [PMID: 34813721 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2021.0463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans often mate with those resembling themselves, a phenomenon described as positive assortative mating (PAM). The causes of this attract broad interest, but there is little agreement on the topic. This may be because empirical studies and reviews sometimes focus on just a few explanations, often based on disciplinary conventions. This review presents an interdisciplinary conceptual framework on the causes of PAM in humans, drawing on human and non-human biology, the social sciences, and the humanities. Viewing causality holistically, we first discuss the proximate causes (i.e. the 'how') of PAM, considering three mechanisms: stratification, convergence and mate choice. We also outline methods to control for confounders when studying mate choice. We then discuss ultimate explanations (i.e. 'the why') for PAM, including adaptive and non-adaptive processes. We conclude by suggesting a focus on interdisciplinarity in future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas M M Versluys
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, United Kingdom
| | - Ewan O Flintham
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, United Kingdom
| | - Alex Mas-Sandoval
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, United Kingdom
| | - Vincent Savolainen
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, United Kingdom
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13
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Chopoorian A, Pichkar Y, Creanza N. The Role of the Learner in the Cultural Evolution of Vocalizations. Front Psychol 2021; 12:667455. [PMID: 34484031 PMCID: PMC8415155 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.667455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2021] [Accepted: 07/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
As a uniquely human behavior, language is crucial to our understanding of ourselves and of the world around us. Despite centuries of research into how languages have historically developed and how people learn them, fully understanding the origin and evolution of language remains an ongoing challenge. In parallel, researchers have studied the divergence of birdsong in vocal-learning songbirds to uncover broader patterns of cultural evolution. One approach to studying cultural change over time, adapted from biology, focuses on the transmission of socially learned traits, including language, in a population. By studying how learning and the distribution of cultural traits interact at the population level, we can better understand the processes that underlie cultural evolution. Here, we take a two-fold approach to understanding the cultural evolution of vocalizations, with a focus on the role of the learner in cultural transmission. First, we explore previous research on the evolution of social learning, focusing on recent progress regarding the origin and ongoing cultural evolution of both language and birdsong. We then use a spatially explicit population model to investigate the coevolution of culture and learning preferences, with the assumption that selection acts directly on cultural phenotypes and indirectly on learning preferences. Our results suggest that the spatial distribution of learned behaviors can cause unexpected evolutionary patterns of learning. We find that, intuitively, selection for rare cultural phenotypes can indirectly favor a novelty-biased learning strategy. In contrast, selection for common cultural phenotypes leads to cultural homogeneity; we find that there is no selective pressure on learning strategy without cultural variation. Thus, counterintuitively, selection for common cultural traits does not consistently favor conformity bias, and novelty bias can stably persist in this cultural context. We propose that the evolutionary dynamics of learning preferences and cultural biases can depend on the existing variation of learned behaviors, and that this interaction could be important to understanding the origin and evolution of cultural systems such as language and birdsong. Selection acting on learned behaviors may indirectly impose counterintuitive selective pressures on learning strategies, and understanding the cultural landscape is crucial to understanding how patterns of learning might change over time.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Nicole Creanza
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
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14
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Smaldino PE, Jones JH. Coupled dynamics of behaviour and disease contagion among antagonistic groups. EVOLUTIONARY HUMAN SCIENCES 2021; 3:e28. [PMID: 37588564 PMCID: PMC10427326 DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2021.22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Disease transmission and behaviour change are both fundamentally social phenomena. Behaviour change can have profound consequences for disease transmission, and epidemic conditions can favour the more rapid adoption of behavioural innovations. We analyse a simple model of coupled behaviour change and infection in a structured population characterised by homophily and outgroup aversion. Outgroup aversion slows the rate of adoption and can lead to lower rates of adoption in the later-adopting group or even behavioural divergence between groups when outgroup aversion exceeds positive ingroup influence. When disease dynamics are coupled to the behaviour-adoption model, a wide variety of outcomes are possible. Homophily can either increase or decrease the final size of the epidemic depending on its relative strength in the two groups and on R0 for the infection. For example, if the first group is homophilous and the second is not, the second group will have a larger epidemic. Homophily and outgroup aversion can also produce dynamics suggestive of a 'second wave' in the first group that follows the peak of the epidemic in the second group. Our simple model reveals dynamics that are suggestive of the processes currently observed under pandemic conditions in culturally and/or politically polarised populations such as the USA.
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15
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Thompson B, Griffiths TL. Human biases limit cumulative innovation. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20202752. [PMID: 33715436 PMCID: PMC7944091 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2752] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2020] [Accepted: 02/08/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Is technological advancement constrained by biases in human cognition? People in all societies build on discoveries inherited from previous generations, leading to cumulative innovation. However, biases in human learning and memory may influence the process of knowledge transmission, potentially limiting this process. Here, we show that cumulative innovation in a continuous optimization problem is systematically constrained by human biases. In a large (n = 1250) behavioural study using a transmission chain design, participants searched for virtual technologies in one of four environments after inheriting a solution from previous generations. Participants converged on worse solutions in environments misaligned with their biases. These results substantiate a mathematical model of cumulative innovation in Bayesian agents, highlighting formal relationships between cultural evolution and distributed stochastic optimization. Our findings provide experimental evidence that human biases can limit the advancement of knowledge in a controlled laboratory setting, reinforcing concerns about bias in creative, scientific and educational contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bill Thompson
- Departments of Psychology and Computer Science, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Thomas L. Griffiths
- Departments of Psychology and Computer Science, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
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Friston KJ, Parr T, Yufik Y, Sajid N, Price CJ, Holmes E. Generative models, linguistic communication and active inference. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2020; 118:42-64. [PMID: 32687883 PMCID: PMC7758713 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2020] [Revised: 06/26/2020] [Accepted: 07/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
This paper presents a biologically plausible generative model and inference scheme that is capable of simulating communication between synthetic subjects who talk to each other. Building on active inference formulations of dyadic interactions, we simulate linguistic exchange to explore generative models that support dialogues. These models employ high-order interactions among abstract (discrete) states in deep (hierarchical) models. The sequential nature of language processing mandates generative models with a particular factorial structure-necessary to accommodate the rich combinatorics of language. We illustrate linguistic communication by simulating a synthetic subject who can play the 'Twenty Questions' game. In this game, synthetic subjects take the role of the questioner or answerer, using the same generative model. This simulation setup is used to illustrate some key architectural points and demonstrate that many behavioural and neurophysiological correlates of linguistic communication emerge under variational (marginal) message passing, given the right kind of generative model. For example, we show that theta-gamma coupling is an emergent property of belief updating, when listening to another.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karl J Friston
- The Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, 12 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3AR, UK.
| | - Thomas Parr
- The Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, 12 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3AR, UK.
| | - Yan Yufik
- Virtual Structures Research, Inc., 12204 Saint James Rd, Potomac, MD 20854, USA.
| | - Noor Sajid
- The Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, 12 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3AR, UK.
| | - Catherine J Price
- The Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, 12 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3AR, UK.
| | - Emma Holmes
- The Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, 12 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3AR, UK.
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17
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Carja O, Creanza N. The evolutionary advantage of cultural memory on heterogeneous contact networks. Theor Popul Biol 2019; 129:118-125. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tpb.2018.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2018] [Revised: 07/09/2018] [Accepted: 09/29/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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18
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Kobayashi Y, Wakano JY, Ohtsuki H. Evolution of cumulative culture for niche construction. J Theor Biol 2019; 472:67-76. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2019.04.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2018] [Revised: 04/02/2019] [Accepted: 04/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Ahedo V, Caro J, Bortolini E, Zurro D, Madella M, Galán JM. Quantifying the relationship between food sharing practices and socio-ecological variables in small-scale societies: A cross-cultural multi-methodological approach. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0216302. [PMID: 31141510 PMCID: PMC6541262 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0216302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2019] [Accepted: 04/17/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
This article presents a cross-cultural study of the relationship among the subsistence strategies, the environmental setting and the food sharing practices of 22 modern small-scale societies located in America (n = 18) and Siberia (n = 4). Ecological, geographical and economic variables of these societies were extracted from specialized literature and the publicly available D-PLACE database. The approach proposed comprises a variety of quantitative methods, ranging from exploratory techniques aimed at capturing relationships of any type between variables, to network theory and supervised-learning predictive modelling. Results provided by all techniques consistently show that the differences observed in food sharing practices across the sampled populations cannot be explained just by the differential distribution of ecological, geographical and economic variables. Food sharing has to be interpreted as a more complex cultural phenomenon, whose variation over time and space cannot be ascribed only to local adaptation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Virginia Ahedo
- Área de Organización de Empresas, Departamento de Ingeniería Civil, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad de Burgos, Burgos, Spain
- CaSEs—Culture and Socio-Ecological Systems research group, Departamento de Arqueología y Antropología, Institución Milá y Fontanals–Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Barcelona, Spain & Departamento de Humanidades, Universidad Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jorge Caro
- Área de Organización de Empresas, Departamento de Ingeniería Civil, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad de Burgos, Burgos, Spain
- CaSEs—Culture and Socio-Ecological Systems research group, Departamento de Arqueología y Antropología, Institución Milá y Fontanals–Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Barcelona, Spain & Departamento de Humanidades, Universidad Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Eugenio Bortolini
- CaSEs—Culture and Socio-Ecological Systems research group, Departamento de Arqueología y Antropología, Institución Milá y Fontanals–Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Barcelona, Spain & Departamento de Humanidades, Universidad Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy
| | - Débora Zurro
- CaSEs—Culture and Socio-Ecological Systems research group, Departamento de Arqueología y Antropología, Institución Milá y Fontanals–Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Barcelona, Spain & Departamento de Humanidades, Universidad Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Marco Madella
- CaSEs—Culture and Socio-Ecological Systems research group, Departamento de Arqueología y Antropología, Institución Milá y Fontanals–Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Barcelona, Spain & Departamento de Humanidades, Universidad Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
- ICREA, Barcelona, Spain
- School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - José Manuel Galán
- INSISOC, Área de Organización de Empresas, Departamento de Ingeniería Civil, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad de Burgos, Burgos, Spain
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20
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Gupta M, Prasad NG, Dey S, Joshi A, Vidya T NC. Niche construction in evolutionary theory: the construction of an academic niche? J Genet 2019; 96:491-504. [PMID: 28761012 DOI: 10.1007/s12041-017-0787-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Manan Gupta
- Evolutionary Biology Laboratory, Evolutionary and Organismal Biology Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bengaluru 560 064, India.
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21
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Fogarty L, Creanza N, Feldman MW. The life history of learning: Demographic structure changes cultural outcomes. PLoS Comput Biol 2019; 15:e1006821. [PMID: 31039147 PMCID: PMC6510452 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006821] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2018] [Revised: 05/10/2019] [Accepted: 01/24/2019] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Human populations show rich cultural diversity. Underpinning this diversity of tools, rituals, and cultural norms are complex interactions between cultural evolutionary and demographic processes. Most models of cultural change assume that individuals use the same learning modes and methods throughout their lives. However, empirical data on ‘learning life histories’—the balance of dominant modes of learning (for example, learning from parents, peers, or unrelated elders) throughout an individual’s lifetime—suggest that age structure may play a crucial role in determining learning modes and cultural evolutionary trajectories. Thus, studied in isolation, demographic and cultural evolutionary models show only part of the picture. This paper describes a mathematical and computational framework that combines demographic and cultural evolutionary methods. Using this general framework, we examine interactions between the ways in which culture is spread throughout an individual’s lifetime and cultural change across generations. We show that including demographic structure alongside cultural dynamics can help to explain domain-specific patterns of cultural evolution that are a persistent feature of cultural data, and can shed new light on rare but significant demographic events. Human populations show great cultural variety and complexity, which cultural evolutionary theory seeks to explain by applying ideas about evolution to the ways in which cultural traits change over time. We combined cultural evolutionary theory with information about how people learn over their lifetimes—changing their role models and teachers as they grow up. The result is a new theory of the interaction between life histories and learning that gives a more complete description of human cultural change. The results of our model show why different cultural traits might spread in one population compared to another and how cultural change might spark large-scale demographic changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurel Fogarty
- School of Biology, Sir Harold Mitchell Building, Greenside Place, St Andrews, United Kingdom.,Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Nicole Creanza
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Marcus W Feldman
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America
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22
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Bruineberg J, Rietveld E, Parr T, van Maanen L, Friston KJ. Free-energy minimization in joint agent-environment systems: A niche construction perspective. J Theor Biol 2018; 455:161-178. [PMID: 30012517 PMCID: PMC6117456 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2018.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
The free-energy principle is an attempt to explain the structure of the agent and its brain, starting from the fact that an agent exists (Friston and Stephan, 2007; Friston et al., 2010). More specifically, it can be regarded as a systematic attempt to understand the 'fit' between an embodied agent and its niche, where the quantity of free-energy is a measure for the 'misfit' or disattunement (Bruineberg and Rietveld, 2014) between agent and environment. This paper offers a proof-of-principle simulation of niche construction under the free-energy principle. Agent-centered treatments have so far failed to address situations where environments change alongside agents, often due to the action of agents themselves. The key point of this paper is that the minimum of free-energy is not at a point in which the agent is maximally adapted to the statistics of a static environment, but can better be conceptualized an attracting manifold within the joint agent-environment state-space as a whole, which the system tends toward through mutual interaction. We will provide a general introduction to active inference and the free-energy principle. Using Markov Decision Processes (MDPs), we then describe a canonical generative model and the ensuing update equations that minimize free-energy. We then apply these equations to simulations of foraging in an environment; in which an agent learns the most efficient path to a pre-specified location. In some of those simulations, unbeknownst to the agent, the 'desire paths' emerge as a function of the activity of the agent (i.e. niche construction occurs). We will show how, depending on the relative inertia of the environment and agent, the joint agent-environment system moves to different attracting sets of jointly minimized free-energy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jelle Bruineberg
- Department of Philosophy, Institute for Logic, Language and Computation, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Amsterdam Brain and Cognition Centre, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Erik Rietveld
- Department of Philosophy, Institute for Logic, Language and Computation, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Amsterdam Brain and Cognition Centre, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Academic Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Philosophy, University of Twente, The Netherlands.
| | - Thomas Parr
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK.
| | - Leendert van Maanen
- Amsterdam Brain and Cognition Centre, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Karl J Friston
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK.
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Kolodny O, Feldman MW, Creanza N. Integrative studies of cultural evolution: crossing disciplinary boundaries to produce new insights. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2018; 373:20170048. [PMID: 29440515 PMCID: PMC5812962 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/11/2017] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Culture evolves according to dynamics on multiple temporal scales, from individuals' minute-by-minute behaviour to millennia of cultural accumulation that give rise to population-level differences. These dynamics act on a range of entities-including behavioural sequences, ideas and artefacts as well as individuals, populations and whole species-and involve mechanisms at multiple levels, from neurons in brains to inter-population interactions. Studying such complex phenomena requires an integration of perspectives from a diverse array of fields, as well as bridging gaps between traditionally disparate areas of study. In this article, which also serves as an introduction to the current special issue, we highlight some specific respects in which the study of cultural evolution has benefited and should continue to benefit from an integrative approach. We showcase a number of pioneering studies of cultural evolution that bring together numerous disciplines. These studies illustrate the value of perspectives from different fields for understanding cultural evolution, such as cognitive science and neuroanatomy, behavioural ecology, population dynamics, and evolutionary genetics. They also underscore the importance of understanding cultural processes when interpreting research about human genetics, neuroscience, behaviour and evolution.This article is part of the theme issue 'Bridging cultural gaps: interdisciplinary studies in human cultural evolution'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oren Kolodny
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | | | - Nicole Creanza
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37212, USA
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24
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Laland K, Odling-Smee J, Endler J. Niche construction, sources of selection and trait coevolution. Interface Focus 2017; 7:20160147. [PMID: 28839920 DOI: 10.1098/rsfs.2016.0147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Organisms modify and choose components of their local environments. This 'niche construction' can alter ecological processes, modify natural selection and contribute to inheritance through ecological legacies. Here, we propose that niche construction initiates and modifies the selection directly affecting the constructor, and on other species, in an orderly, directed and sustained manner. By dependably generating specific environmental states, niche construction co-directs adaptive evolution by imposing a consistent statistical bias on selection. We illustrate how niche construction can generate this evolutionary bias by comparing it with artificial selection. We suggest that it occupies the middle ground between artificial and natural selection. We show how the perspective leads to testable predictions related to: (i) reduced variance in measures of responses to natural selection in the wild; (ii) multiple trait coevolution, including the evolution of sequences of traits and patterns of parallel evolution; and (iii) a positive association between niche construction and biodiversity. More generally, we submit that evolutionary biology would benefit from greater attention to the diverse properties of all sources of selection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin Laland
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, Harold Mitchell Building, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9TH, UK
| | | | - John Endler
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, VIC, Australia
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25
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Creanza N, Kolodny O, Feldman MW. Cultural evolutionary theory: How culture evolves and why it matters. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017; 114:7782-7789. [PMID: 28739941 PMCID: PMC5544263 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1620732114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 111] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Human cultural traits-behaviors, ideas, and technologies that can be learned from other individuals-can exhibit complex patterns of transmission and evolution, and researchers have developed theoretical models, both verbal and mathematical, to facilitate our understanding of these patterns. Many of the first quantitative models of cultural evolution were modified from existing concepts in theoretical population genetics because cultural evolution has many parallels with, as well as clear differences from, genetic evolution. Furthermore, cultural and genetic evolution can interact with one another and influence both transmission and selection. This interaction requires theoretical treatments of gene-culture coevolution and dual inheritance, in addition to purely cultural evolution. In addition, cultural evolutionary theory is a natural component of studies in demography, human ecology, and many other disciplines. Here, we review the core concepts in cultural evolutionary theory as they pertain to the extension of biology through culture, focusing on cultural evolutionary applications in population genetics, ecology, and demography. For each of these disciplines, we review the theoretical literature and highlight relevant empirical studies. We also discuss the societal implications of the study of cultural evolution and of the interactions of humans with one another and with their environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole Creanza
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235
| | - Oren Kolodny
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
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26
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Buskell A. What are cultural attractors? BIOLOGY & PHILOSOPHY 2017; 32:377-394. [PMID: 28713188 PMCID: PMC5491627 DOI: 10.1007/s10539-017-9570-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2016] [Accepted: 03/13/2017] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Concepts from cultural attractor theory are now used in domains far from their original home in anthropology and cultural evolution. Yet these concepts have not been consistently characterised. I here distinguish four ways in which the cultural attractor concept has been used and identify three kinds of factors of attraction typically appealed to. Clarifying these explanatory concepts identifies problems and ambiguities in the work of cultural epidemiologists and commentators alike.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Buskell
- Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, Free School Lane, Cambridge, CB2 3RH UK
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27
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Creanza N, Feldman MW. Worldwide genetic and cultural change in human evolution. Curr Opin Genet Dev 2016; 41:85-92. [PMID: 27644074 DOI: 10.1016/j.gde.2016.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2016] [Revised: 08/04/2016] [Accepted: 08/19/2016] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Both genetic variation and certain culturally transmitted phenotypes show geographic signatures of human demographic history. As a result of the human cultural predisposition to migrate to new areas, humans have adapted to a large number of different environments. Migration to new environments alters genetic selection pressures, and comparative genetic studies have pinpointed numerous likely targets of this selection. However, humans also exhibit many cultural adaptations to new environments, such as practices related to clothing, shelter, and food. Human culture interacts with genes and the environment in complex ways, and studying genes and culture together can deepen our understanding of human evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole Creanza
- Department of Biology Stanford University, Gilbert Hall, 371 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305, United States; Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, 465 21st Ave. South, Nashville, TN 37212, United States.
| | - Marcus W Feldman
- Department of Biology Stanford University, Gilbert Hall, 371 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305, United States
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28
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Laland K, Matthews B, Feldman MW. An introduction to niche construction theory. Evol Ecol 2016; 30:191-202. [PMID: 27429507 PMCID: PMC4922671 DOI: 10.1007/s10682-016-9821-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 172] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2015] [Accepted: 01/20/2016] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Niche construction refers to the modification of selective environments by organisms. Theoretical and empirical studies of niche construction are increasing in importance as foci in evolutionary ecology. This special edition presents theoretical and empirical research that illustrates the significance of niche construction to the field. Here we set the scene for the following papers by (1) discussing the history of niche construction research, (2) providing clear definitions that distinguish niche construction from related concepts such as ecosystem engineering and the extended phenotype, (3) providing a brief summary of the findings of niche construction research, (4) discussing the contribution of niche construction and ecological inheritance to (a) expanded notions of inheritance, and (b) the extended evolutionary synthesis, and (5) briefly touching on some of the issues that underlie the controversies over niche construction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin Laland
- />School of Biology, Sir Harold Mitchell Building, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9TF UK
| | - Blake Matthews
- />Aquatic Ecology Department, Center for Ecology, Evolution and Biogeochemistry, Eawag, Seestrasse 79, 6047 Kastanienbaum, Switzerland
| | - Marcus W. Feldman
- />Department of Biology, 385 Serra Mall, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 USA
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29
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Bentley RA, O'Brien MJ. Collective behaviour, uncertainty and environmental change. PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. SERIES A, MATHEMATICAL, PHYSICAL, AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES 2015; 373:rsta.2014.0461. [PMID: 26460111 DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2014.0461] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
A central aspect of cultural evolutionary theory concerns how human groups respond to environmental change. Although we are painting with a broad brush, it is fair to say that prior to the twenty-first century, adaptation often happened gradually over multiple human generations, through a combination of individual and social learning, cumulative cultural evolution and demographic shifts. The result was a generally resilient and sustainable population. In the twenty-first century, however, considerable change happens within small portions of a human generation, on a vastly larger range of geographical and population scales and involving a greater degree of horizontal learning. As a way of gauging the complexity of societal response to environmental change in a globalized future, we discuss several theoretical tools for understanding how human groups adapt to uncertainty. We use our analysis to estimate the limits of predictability of future societal change, in the belief that knowing when to hedge bets is better than relying on a false sense of predictability.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Alexander Bentley
- Department of Comparative Cultural Studies, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, USA
| | - Michael J O'Brien
- Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, 317 Lowry Hall, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
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In the light of evolution VIII: Darwinian thinking in the social sciences. Introduction. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2014; 111 Suppl 3:10781-4. [PMID: 25202765 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1411483111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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