Cultural Transmission and the Role of Evolutionary Forces: Empirical evidence for adaptive biases in learning and cultural transmission Open Access
Broesch, James (2010)
Published
Abstract
Over the past 25 years, the application of evolutionary theory to understanding how natural selection may have shaped human psychological mechanisms for cultural learning has generated a wide range of hypotheses that together begin to lay the micro-level foundations of cultural evolution. Under this framework, cognitive biases for the acquisition beliefs and practices that are acquired socially (culture as defined here) can be broken down into two categories: 1) Content biases, which are specific to what is being learned, (e.g., selective retention of fitness relevant information over non-fitness relevant information) and 2) Context biases that pertain not to what is being transmitted, but rather to the context in which it is transmitted, including both who is transmitting and how this information is distributed across the population. Both analytical and simulation models have shown how these types of biases may produce adaptive change over time within populations, by increasing the likelihood that an individual acquires the variants of a cultural trait that are more likely to be adaptive on the whole. While these models have enhanced our understanding of the potential dynamics of different patterns of cultural transmission, and are supported by ethnographic observations from a variety of contexts as well as laboratory evidence, little detailed field data have directly tested the predictions from these models in real world settings. My dissertation is an attempt to bridge this gap, by directly examining several predictions from formal models among Fijian villagers. I accomplish this with 3 studies, each designed to explore a different area of the predictions from these models through the integration of experimental tools with quantitative ethnographic methods.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1-General Introduction
....................................................................
1
In this chapter I outline the structure of my dissertation. I
discuss how this work is a
significant contribution to the field of anthropology through the
empirical examination of
predictions from cultural evolutionary theory. In addition, I
outline how this work is an
important contribution to the social and health sciences more
generally.
Chapter 1b-Ethnographic Context
....................................................................
12
In this chapter I provide a brief description of the ethnographic
context for this research.
I discuss the general characteristics of the settings where this
research took place, and the
lives of the people that live here. It is intended to provide the
reader with a context in
which the rest of the chapters can be situated.
Chapter 2- Cultural Transmission Networks in Fiji: An empirical
examination of
predictions from cultural evolutionary theory.
.................................................... 18
Context biases in cultural transmission have been proposed to be
one manner by which
individuals might guide their learning in order to acquire
knowledge/beliefs/behaviors
that might have positive impacts on fitness. Models from cultural
evolutionary theory
make clear predictions about who the central individuals should be
in cultural
transmission networks. In this study, I use social network analysis
to examine these
predictions. Using data from several Fijian villages, I explore
which factors best predict
the structure of cultural transmission networks in a variety of
domains. In general, the
results support the predictions from cultural evolutionary
theory.
Chapter 2b- Interstitial
Chapter...........................................................................
55
In this chapter, I tie chapter 2 and 3 together; by discussing how
chapter 2 deals with one
type of bias in cultural transmission, context biases, and how
chapter 3 is an examination
of another type of bias in cultural transmission, content
biases.
Chapter 3- Content Biases in Learning about Novel Animals
...................................... 60
Content biases have been proposed to be important in shaping social
learning and cultural
transmission. In this project, I examined the degree to which this
type of bias shapes the
acquisition and retention of information about animals. I used an
experimental approach
to demonstrate that: 1) Both adults and children err on the side of
caution when
attributing poison or danger to novel animals in a memory task. 2)
Children exhibit a bias
in the retention of fitness relevant information about novel
species over less fitness
relevant information.
Chapter 3b- Interstitial Chapter
.......................................................................
88
In this chapter I briefly outline how the previous chapters examine
some of the ways in
which culture is transmitted, but do not explicitly address how
cultural knowledge can
impact behavior. I then introduce chapter 4, in which I explicitly
examine how
knowledge may impact behavioral outcomes, through an examination of
patterns
inference.
Chapter 4- Fijian Fish Taboos and Inference about Novel Fish
Species ..................... 92
In Fiji taboos exist surrounding the consumption of certain marine
resources. Preliminary
work has shown that these taboos map on quite well to fish that are
likely to contain
ciguatera toxin which can be dangerous if consumed. Ciguatera toxin
reaches high levels
in certain species by the process of bioaccumulation. Experimental
results indicate that
when individuals have access to size information about novel
species, they make accurate
inferences about whether or not those species would be potential
bioaccumulators.
Chapter 5- Conclusion
.................................................... 113
In this chapter I briefly outline the main conclusions from all 3
studies, and discuss the
findings in the context of predictions from cultural evolutionary
theory. I propose a future
program of research designed to understand the role of culture in
relation to health
through the examination of the distribution of cultural beliefs
among a group. I outline
why an increased understanding of the composition and structure of
local social networks
is important for understanding the role of culture in producing
health outcomes, and how
public health interventions may be improved by using network
methods and by drawing
on cultural evolutionary theory.
About this Dissertation
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