NDLI: On the nature of cultural transmission networks: evidence from Fijian villages for adaptive learning biases

Content Provider	PubMed Central
Author	Henrich, Joseph James, Broesch
Copyright Year	2011
Abstract	Unlike other animals, humans are heavily dependent on cumulative bodies of culturally learned information. Selective processes operating on this socially learned information can produce complex, functionally integrated, behavioural repertoires—cultural adaptations. To understand such non-genetic adaptations, evolutionary theorists propose that (i) natural selection has favoured the emergence of psychological biases for learning from those individuals most likely to possess adaptive information, and (ii) when these psychological learning biases operate in populations, over generations, they can generate cultural adaptations. Many laboratory experiments now provide evidence for these psychological biases. Here, we bridge from the laboratory to the field by examining if and how these biases emerge in a small-scale society. Data from three cultural domains—fishing, growing yams and using medicinal plants—show that Fijian villagers (ages 10 and up) are biased to learn from others perceived as more successful/knowledgeable, both within and across domains (prestige effects). We also find biases for sex and age, as well as proximity effects. These selective and centralized oblique transmission networks set up the conditions for adaptive cultural evolution.
Related Links	http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2010.0323
Ending Page	1148
Page Count	10
Starting Page	1139
File Format	PDF
ISSN	09628436
e-ISSN	14712970
Journal	Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Issue Number	1567
Volume Number	366
Language	English
Publisher	The Royal Society
Publisher Date	2011-04-12
Access Restriction	Open
Rights Holder	The Royal Society
Subject Keyword	Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all) Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all) Research in Higher Education
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology Agricultural and Biological Sciences

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