Cultural evolution

Le résumé fourni par la source

Abstract This chapter describes the sub-field of Cultural Evolution. After briefly setting out the history of the sub-field, the chapter describes three key concepts of this approach, namely the definition of culture, parallels between biological and cultural evolution, and types of cultural learning. It then describes examples of Cultural Evolution research through three case studies on the topics of experimental investigations of social learning and cumulative culture, language evolution, and the evolution of complex societies. A critical evaluation section then covers three contemporary discussion topics: the question of whether minds select culture, the debates surrounding replication versus attraction, and the similarities and differences between biological and cultural evolution. The chapter describes the strengths of the Cultural Evolution perspective, which include a strong foundation in mathematical modelling and a burgeoning amount of empirical research, as well as examining areas where questions about cultural evolutionary processes are perhaps yet to be answered.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.