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Although no one disputes that the transmission of culture depends on social learning, a capacity that has enabled humans, unlike other animals, to modify cultural practices across generations, this review argues that cultural change can also be evoked by environmental events leading to an alteration in the configuration of an habitual behavioural repertoire. An evoked mechanism allows latent or normally suppressed behaviour to emerge. Cannibalism and warfare are put forward as examples. Evoked mechanisms have largely been ignored by one of the few attempts to reconcile biology and culture, namely cumulative cultural evolution (CCE). This review endorses CCE's aim of developing a biocultural conceptual framework but criticises this model for failing to produce a credible analysis of culture into 'units' or 'variants'. The critique of CCE is situated within a discussion of the long-standing separation within academia of science and arts disciplines, each focusing at different levels of analysis and with different aims. It is suggested that the main obstacle to developing a biocultural framework can be attributed to an incompatibility between nomothetic and idiographic research methods, the former being typical of the biological sciences, the latter of the arts. A successful biocultural conceptual framework would therefore have to accommodate the particular and the general. It is suggested that progress in this direction would be made if agreement could be reached on ways of observing or inferring behaviours rather than pursuing an analysis in terms of hypothetical constructs such as mental representations or units of 'cultural information'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The architectural heritages of the Peking-Mukden Railway has witnessed the industrialization of China. When it no longer serves its original function, finding a new way for reuse becomes a trend. It requires feedback from reused cases to guide decision-making. This article aims to propose an approach to post-occupancy evaluation of architectural heritages in the Peking-Mukden Railway and apply it to real cases for analysis. The evaluation indicator system used here consists of a hierarchical structure, evaluation indicators, and interpretation indicators. Cosine similarity, entropy weight method, and precedence chart method are utilized to determine final weights. The GRA-TOPSIS method is utilized to identify reuse cases that require additional optimization. The conclusions are as follows: 1. The cosine similarity can be introduced to neutralize individual preferences. The entropy weight method can be used to neutralize subjective factors. 2. Based on the analysis of the sensitivity levels, indicators that need to be improved first can be identified. Priority should be given to spatial accessibility and cultural transmission when making adjustments with limited resources. 3. The GRA-TOPSIS evaluation method can be used to rank and find reuse cases that need further optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) models have attracted tremendous interest since the advent of ChatGPT, raising numerous opportunities and challenges. However, their generative power has not yet been studied, leaving open the question of what is truly generated by these tools. This paper addresses this question and precisely characterizes the generativity behind GenAI models. Owing to the latest advancements in engineering design, we first propose a framework for uncovering the various types of generativity. Then, we consider the main families of GenAI models and systematically analyze them to characterize their generativity within this framework. By doing so, we highlight the existence of two distinct generative levels in GenAI: one leading to the generation of new artifacts and the other leading to the generation of GenAI models themselves. We are also able to characterize the generativity of both of these levels, thus specifically confirming the generative power of GenAI and opening research avenues toward human-GenAI collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Norms play a crucial role in governing human societies. From an early age, humans possess an innate understanding of norms, recognizing certain behaviours, contexts, and roles as being governed by them. The evolution of normativity has been linked to its contribution to the promotion of cooperation in large groups and is intertwined with the development of joint intentionality. However, there is no evolutionary consensus on what normatively differentiated our hominin ancestors from the phylogenetic lineage leading to chimpanzees and bonobos. Here we propose that the development of teaching through a process of evaluative feedback between parent and offspring functioned as a prerequisite for the later development of normativity. Parents approve or disapprove of offspring’s behaviours based on their own learned knowledge of what is appropriate or inappropriate. We argue our proposition using a simple model of cultural transmission, which shows the adaptive advantage offered by these elementary forms of teaching. We show that an important part of this adaptive advantage can arise from the benefits derived from guidance about which behaviours to adopt or reject. We propose that this type of guidance has fundamental elements that characterise the normative world. We complete our argument by reviewing several studies that examine the emergence of normativity in young children without prior exposure to a normative framework with respect to the behaviours under analysis. We suggest that this normativity is best interpreted as manifestations of teaching among young children rather than as norm recognition among early normative children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All advanced economies have undergone secular revolutions in which religious belief and institutions have been subordinated to secular forms of authority. There are, however, numerous examples of failed secular transitions. To understand these failures, we present a religious club model with endogenous entry and cultural transmission of religious beliefs. A spike in the demand for religious belief, due for example to a negative economic shock, induces a new and more extreme organization to enter the religious market and exploit the dissatisfaction of highly religious types with the religious incumbent. The effect is larger where institutional secularization is more advanced, for example where the religious establishment has moderated itself or has been moderated by the political authority. The greater the moderation of the religious incumbent, the more extreme is the position chosen by the religious entrant, and the larger is the rise in religious participation. Hence, unanticipated shifts in religious demand can lead to the emergence of new and more extreme religious organizations and reverse previous trends toward secularization. Our model sheds light on the causes and consequences of failed secular revolutions and religious revivals in Latin America and Egypt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intangible cultural heritage is an invaluable treasure for all human beings worldwide. In 2009, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) inscribed the Chinese Cantonese Opera, also known as Yueju in Chinese Pinyin, on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The awareness of inheriting Yueju is not uncommon, but advancing methods to involve more young generations in this art form is still necessary. In this study, we focused on Yueju videos on Bilibili, a cultural community and video website popular among the younger generation. Through quantitative and qualitative research, we explored the types of Yueju videos that would have a significant spreading effect. The 1916 Bilibili videos related to Yueju were collected using Python crawler technology. We analyzed each video using seventeen variables. The elaboration likelihood model (ELM) forms the theoretical foundation of this research. We constructed the Yueju transmission model with two persuasive routes based on this model. The research methods mainly comprised regression analysis, multi-factor ANOVA, and analytic hierarchy process (AHP). We invited thirty-one experts to assess the importance hierarchy of those video factors and calculate the weight coefficient using AHP. This study demonstrated the central route concerning the causal relationship between video recognition and spreading effect through regression analysis. Additionally, this research identified the optimal combination of 8 video factors using multi-factor ANOVA in the peripheral route. In this study, we focused on the niche of Yueju video transmission on Bilibili. This research utilized the ELM and hybrid methods to obtain the statistical results. Then, we developed appropriate macro-level and micro-level strategies for transmitting Yueju culture, particularly those aimed at the younger generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of linguistics concerns itself with understanding the human capacity for language. Compositionality is a key notion in this research tradition. Compositionality refers to the notion that the meaning of a complex linguistic unit is a function of the meanings of its constituent parts. However, the question as to whether compositionality is a defining feature of human language is a matter of debate: usage-based and constructionist approaches emphasize the pervasive role of idiomaticity in language, and argue that strict compositionality is the exception rather than the rule. We review the major discussion points on compositionality from a usage-based point of view, taking both spoken and signed languages into account. In addition, we discuss theories that aim at accounting for the emergence of compositional language through processes of cultural transmission as well as the debate of whether animal communication systems exhibit compositionality. We argue for a view that emphasizes the analyzability of complex linguistic units, providing a template for accounting for the multimodal nature of human language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intergroup bias is the tendency for people to inflate positive regard for their in-group and derogate the out-group. Across two online experiments (N = 922) this study revisits the methodological premises of research on language as a window into intergroup bias. Experiment 1 examined (i) whether the valence (positivity) of language production differs when communicating about an in- vs. out-group, and (ii) whether the extent of this bias is influenced by the positivity of input descriptors that were initially presented to participants as examples of how an in-group or out-group characterize themselves. Experiment 2 used the linear diffusion chain method to examine how biases are transmitted through cultural generations. Valence of verbal descriptions were quantified using ratings obtained from a large-scale psycholinguistic database. The findings from Experiment 1 indicated a bias towards employing positive language in describing the in-group (exhibiting in-group favoritism), particularly in cases where the input descriptors were negative. However, there was weak evidence for increased negativity aimed at the out-group (i.e., out-group derogation). The findings from Experiment 2 demonstrated that in-group positivity bias propagated across cultural generations at a higher rate than out-group derogation. The results shed light on the formation and cultural transmission of intergroup bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the commentary "Thoughts on the failing generativity at psychoanalytic institutes," the problem of a lack of new talent in psychoanalytic institutes is discussed. The authors point out the absence of training analysts, which has led to an average age of 71.4 years for training analysts in the German Psychoanalytic Society. They also describe their own negative experiences as candidates and raise questions about the structure of training. The authors speculate that the decline in interest in training and the diminishing willingness to participate in institutes could indicate a general loss of significance for psychoanalysis. They suggest establishing clear criteria for qualification as a training analyst. [Extracted from the article]

Human language is unique in its structure: language is made up of parts that can be recombined in a productive way. The parts are not given but have to be discovered by learners exposed to unsegmented wholes. Across languages, the frequency distribution of those parts follows a power law. Both statistical properties—having parts and having them follow a particular distribution—facilitate learning, yet their origin is still poorly understood. Where do the parts come from and why do they follow a particular frequency distribution? Here, we show how these two core properties emerge from the process of cultural evolution with whole-to-part learning. We use an experimental analog of cultural transmission in which participants copy sets of non-linguistic sequences produced by a previous participant: This design allows us to ask if parts will emerge purely under pressure for the system to be learnable, even without meanings to convey. We show that parts emerge from initially unsegmented sequences, that their distribution becomes closer to a power law over generations, and, importantly, that these properties make the sets of sequences more learnable. We argue that these two core statistical properties of language emerge culturally both as a cause and effect of greater learnability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cross-fertilisation between biological and cultural evolution has led to an extensive borrowing of key concepts, theories, and statistical methods for studying temporal variation in the frequency of cultural variants. Archaeologists have been among the front-runners of those engaging with this endeavour, and the last 2 decades have seen a number of case studies where modes of social learning were inferred from the changing frequencies of artefacts. Here, we employ a simulation model to review and examine under-discussed assumptions shared by many of these applications on the nature of what constitutes the 'population' under study. We specifically ask (1) whether cultural transmission via 'objects' (i.e. public manifestations of cultural traits) generates distinct patterns from those expected from direct transmission between individuals and (2) whether basing inference on the frequency of objects rather than on the frequency of mental representations underlying the production of those objects may lead to biased interpretations. Our results show that the rate at which ideational cultural traits are embedded in objects, and shared as such, has a measurable impact on how we infer cultural transmission processes when analysing frequency-based archaeological data. At the same time, when cultural transmission is entirely mediated by the material representation of ideas, we argue that copying error should be interpreted as a two-step process which may occur in either one or both of embedding information in objects and retrieving it from them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migration scholars repeatedly claim that mothers in migrant families are responsible for cultural preservation and that this responsibility is passed on to their daughters. In turn, male family members are claimed to be more oriented towards the majority society. This often assumed "keepers of the culture" hypothesis is assessed here using bivariate conditional latent growth curve models to track identity developments in a multigroup comparison. The analysis uses information from second-generation youth and their parents from the CILS4EU data. After a review of the mechanisms that may lead to such a gendered effect, the empirical comparison of parent-child dyads reveals that, contrary to expectations, sons and daughters undergo the same identity development during adolescence. Moreover, both parents pass on their identities to both genders in the same way. I discuss the consequences of these results on an empirical and theoretical level at the end of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the medieval and early modern periods the Middle East lost its economic advantage relative to the West. Recent explanations of this historical phenomenon—called the Long Divergence—focus on these regions' distinct political economy choices regarding religious legitimacy and limited governance. We study these features in a political economy model of the interactions between rulers, secular and clerical elites, and civil society. The model induces a joint evolution of culture and political institutions converging to one of two distinct stationary states: a religious and a secular regime. We then map qualitatively parameters and initial conditions characterizing the West and the Middle East into the implied model dynamics to show that they are consistent with the Long Divergence as well as with several key stylized political and economic facts. Most notably, this mapping suggests non-monotonic political economy dynamics in both regions, in terms of legitimacy and limited governance, which indeed characterize their history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prey species commonly assess predation risk based on acoustic signals, such as predator vocalizations or heterospecific alarm calls. The resulting risk-sensitive decision-making affects not only the behavior and life-history of individual prey, but also has far-reaching ecological consequences for population, community, and ecosystem dynamics. Although auditory risk recognition is ubiquitous in animals, it remains unclear how individuals gain the ability to recognize specific sounds as cues of a threat. Here, it has been shown that free-living birds (Wood Warblers Phylloscopus sibilatrix) can learn to recognize unfamiliar, complex sounds (samples of punk rock songs) as cues of a threat from conspecifics holding adjacent territories during the spring breeding season. In a playback experiment, Wood Warblers initially ignored the unfamiliar sounds, but after repeatedly hearing that these sounds trigger alarm calling reaction of neighbors, most individuals showed an anti-predator response to them. Moreover, once learned soon after nestlings hatching, the anti-predator response of parents toward previously unfamiliar sounds was then retained over the entire nestlings rearing period. These results demonstrate that social learning via the association of unfamiliar sounds with known alarm signals enables the spread of anti-predator behavior across territory borders and provides a mechanism explaining the widespread abilities of animals to assess predation risk based on acoustic cues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional Chinese settlements are successful examples of harmonious coexistence between man and nature. Traditional Chinese settlement culture (TCSC) is the product of its inhabitants' adaptation to the natural and social environment and has national cultural originality and transmission. Core cultural elements of these being chosen to stay can be considered as memes. This study considers traditional Chinese settlement cultural memes (TCSCM) as a special kind of knowledge, and proposes a meme-based approach to mine, organize, and present traditional Chinese settlement cultural knowledge from a knowledge management perspective. This approach is composed of identifying memes, constructing the memes ontology, and the memes knowledge graph, mainly describing and establishing the memes identification index system, the ontology conceptual framework, and knowledge graph construction rules. In addition, the feasibility of the above work is verified by a case study of Jinggang Ancient town in Hunan province. This study provides new practical ideas for the authentic conservation and industrial construction of TCSC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dog breed stereotypes are frequently used to inform people's expectations about canine behavior, despite evidence that breed is largely uninformative in predicting individual dog behavior. Further, these beliefs differ among populations. However, it remains unknown how ratings of warmth toward a breed are associated with ratings of other social behavioral domains, and whether differences exist between populations with varying experience with dogs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate ratings of trust and warmth among survey respondents including veterinary students, veterinary faculty and staff, undergraduates in animal-health related majors and members of the general public. Using an online survey, respondents rated their likelihood to trust a dog in varying scenarios for 10 different dog breeds. Additionally, respondents used a feelings thermometer to rate how warm or cool they felt towards each breed. Findings revealed differences in feelings thermometer and trust ratings across populations. All ratings were lower among the veterinary academic respondents compared to the general public and undergraduates. Veterinary students further along in their training, as well as undergraduates with clinical experience, reflected perceptions similar to those of the veterinary faculty and staff providing support for cultural transmission of beliefs during veterinary education and training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how cultural differences can affect the transmission of COVID-19 in different countries. From a sample of 92 countries, we used cross-country data based on Hofstede's cultural dimensions to investigate the impact of culture on COVID-19 transmission. We found a significant impact of culture on the spread of COVID-19. Specifically, this study reveals that individualism, masculinity, and uncertainty avoidance have a positive impact on confirmed COVID-19 cases. The relationships between cultural differences and the total number of COVID-19 deaths were also positive. This study provides valuable insights into the influences that national culture could have on the effectiveness of responses to a similar global pandemic situation in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Deficits in neural reward processing have been implicated in the etiology of depression and have been observed in high-risk individuals. However, depression is a heterogeneous disorder, and not all depressed individuals exhibit blunted neural reward response, suggesting the need to examine more specific depression phenotypes. Early-onset depression, a well-defined phenotype, has been associated with greater intergenerational transmission of depression and appears more closely linked to neural reward processing deficits. The present study examined whether a maternal history of early-onset depression was associated with neural reward response among mothers and their daughters. Mothers with and without a history of depression, as well as their biological, adolescent daughters (N = 109 dyads), completed a monetary reward guessing task while electroencephalogram was collected. Analyses focused on the Reward Positivity (RewP), an event-related potential following reward receipt. Adjusting for current depressive symptoms, maternal early-onset depression was associated with a blunted RewP in the mothers and a numerically smaller RewP in their never-depressed, adolescent daughters. Maternal adult-onset depression was not statistically associated with a blunted RewP in mothers or daughters. Thus, a blunted RewP appears to be a trait-like vulnerability marker for depression that emerges before depression onset and relates to more specific depression phenotypes (e.g., early-onset depression). These findings have implications for early identification of individuals at risk of depression and for developing more targeted interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intergenerational relationships have become increasingly crucial for maintaining well-being in aging families. Under a changing sociocultural background, families in Hong Kong increasingly exhibit diverse intergenerational relationships and functioning. Focusing on families with mutiple children, this study investigated how the characteristics of parents and their adult children jointly affect different domains of intergenerational relationship quality. A two-stage stratified random sampling design was adopted. Face-to-face questionnaire interviews were conducted between November 2016 and March 2017 with 1,001 Hong Kong residents aged ≥ 50 years. Data of 612 parents and 1,745 adult children were included for analysis. Hierarchical linear modeling was performed to examine child- and parent-level correlates of intergenerational relationship quality. Parents who were female, were married, had higher self-perceived economic status, owned a house, and had fewer depressive symptoms, exhibited higher intergenerational relationship quality. Parents' age was positively related to affectual closeness, whereas their educational level was negatively related to both affectual closeness and conflict. More favorable intergenerational relationships were reported by aging parents whose adult children were younger, female, and married. Children with higher educational levels exhibited higher levels of both affectual closeness and conflict with their parents. Moreover, affectual closeness was found to be transmitted between generations. The findings can help improve awareness of the factors affecting the different domains of intergenerational relationships, thus informing the development of targeted services and interventions to promote family relationships and well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of cultural transmission—whether approached by archaeological or ethnographic means—have made great strides in identifying formal teaching and learning arrangements, which in turn can be closely aligned with models of social learning. While novices and apprentices are often in focus in such studies, younger children and their engagement with material culture have received less attention. Against the backdrop of a cross-cultural database of ethnographically documented object use and play in 54 globally distributed foraging communities, we here discuss the ways in which children make and use tools and toys. We provide a cross-cultural inventory of objects made for and by hunter–gatherer children and adolescents. We find that child and adolescent objects are linked to adult material culture, albeit not exclusively so. Toys and tools were primarily handled outside of explicit pedagogical contexts, and there is little evidence for formalised apprenticeships. Our data suggests that children's self-directed interactions with objects, especially during play, has a critical role in early-age enskillment. Placed within a niche construction framework, we combine ethnographic perspectives on object play with archaeological evidence for play objects to offer an improved cross-cultural frame of reference for how social learning varies across early human life history and what role material culture may play in this process. While our analysis improves the systematic understanding of the role and relevance of play objects among hunter–gatherer societies, we also make the case for more detailed studies of play objects in the context of ethnographic, archival and archaeological cultural transmission research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intergenerational transmission of generativity is a process through which one generation passes elements of its generative potential, such as values and patterns of behavior, on to another. So far, most research on intergenerational transmission of generativity came from relatively stable societies, where the transmission process might be facilitated by the fact that adjacent generations face relatively similar socioeconomic challenges and can therefore make use of similar solutions. In contrast, our study focused on the relationships between parental and offspring characteristics in the context of a society that had undergone a major macro-social change in the past few decades, involving the downfall of the communist regime and subsequent transformation of major political, cultural, and social structures and norms. Apart from examining whether relationships between parental and offspring generative concern and action would show patterns similar to those observed in previous studies, we looked at intergenerational similarities in stagnation, which was recently redefined as a construct partly separable from generativity (Van Hiel et al. Journal of Personality, 74(2), 543–574, 2006). One hundred and twenty-three predominantly female university students and their parents completed measures of generative concern, generative action, stagnation, and Big Five personality traits. Multiple-group path analysis revealed that the structure of the relationships between generativity, stagnation and personality traits did not differ significantly between the groups of parents and offspring. Further analyses showed that parental generative concern was not related to offspring generative concern, but maternal generative action was significantly related to offspring generative action, and maternal stagnation was significantly related to offspring stagnation. The parental level of education was unrelated to offspring generativity or stagnation. These results indicate a certain degree of intergenerational continuity of generativity and stagnation, especially their behavioral components, even though the two generations in our study were raised in different socio-cultural contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the formation of trust is a key issue because of the impact of trust on economic performance. Earlier attempts to measure the strength of intergenerational transmission of trust relied on the cross-sectional regression of children's trust on the contemporaneous trust of parents. In this paper, we take an original approach to the analysis of the transmission process by introducing the distinction between permanent trust (the long-lasting belief on whether one trusts people) and transient trust (capturing, e.g., random errors in the reported trust), and argue that only permanent trust is relevant for the transmission process. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we show that 2/3 of the observed variability in children's trust is due to the transient component. The remaining variability due to the permanent component is only moderately determined by the permanent trust of the parents, with mothers being much more relevant than fathers. Focusing on the subsample of families with more than one child, we show that most of the variability in children's permanent trust is due to unobservable family-specific features of the environment shared by siblings. We conclude that while the family environment in which children grew up determines most of their permanent trust, the direct role of intergenerational transmission is small. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we sketch a programme for AI-driven social theory. We begin by defining what we mean by artificial intelligence (AI) in this context. We then lay out our specification for how AI-based models can draw on the growing availability of digital data to help test the validity of different social theories based on their predictive power. In doing so, we use the work of Randall Collins and his state breakdown model to exemplify that, already today, AI-based models can help synthesise knowledge from a variety of sources, reason about the world, and apply what is known across a wide range of problems in a systematic way. However, we also find that AI-driven social theory remains subject to a range of practical, technical, and epistemological limitations. Most critically, existing AI-systems lack three essential capabilities needed to advance social theory in ways that are cumulative, holistic, open-ended, and purposeful. These are (1) semanticisation, i.e., the ability to develop and operationalize verbal concepts to represent machine-manipulable knowledge; (2) transferability, i.e., the ability to transfer what has been learned in one context to another; and (3) generativity, i.e., the ability to independently create and improve on concepts and models. We argue that if the gaps identified here are addressed by further research, there is no reason why, in the future, the most advanced programme in social theory should not be led by AI-driven cumulative advances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An integrated assessment of the status of populations of Neottia ovata (L.) Bluff & Fingerh. (Orchidaceae Juss.) based on population characteristics is given: population quality, generativity index, renewability index, population density, vitality, and ontogenetic types of populations. It is established that the ontogenetic structure of coenopopulations of N. ovata is normal, incomplete, and left-sided. Slight fluctuations in the quantitative ratio of different ontogenetic states are noted. The analysis of the structure of variability of morphological features is presented. Ontogenetic tactics and strategies of survival of the species in conditions of technogenically disturbed biotopes are described. According to the nature of the manifestation of consistency in the organization of the morphological structure of plants for the species, a stress-protective ontogenetic strategy was revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural evolution researchers use transmission chain experiments to investigate which content is more likely to survive when transmitted from one individual to another. These experiments resemble oral storytelling, wherein individuals need to understand, memorize, and reproduce the content. However, prominent contemporary forms of cultural transmission—think an online sharing—only involve the willingness to transmit the content. Here I present two fully preregistered online experiments that explicitly investigated the differences between these two modalities of transmission. The first experiment (N = 1,080 participants) examined whether negative content, information eliciting disgust, and threat-related information were better transmitted than their neutral counterpart in a traditional transmission chain setup. The second experiment (N = 1,200 participants) used the same material, but participants were asked whether or not they would share the content in two conditions: in a large anonymous social network or with their friends, in their favorite social network. Negative content was both better transmitted in transmission chain experiments and shared more than its neutral counterpart. Threat-related information was successful in transmission chain experiments but not when sharing, and finally, information eliciting disgust was not advantaged in either. Overall, the results present a composite picture, suggesting that the interactions between the specific content and the medium of transmission are important and, possibly, that content biases are stronger when memorization and reproduction are involved in the transmission—as in oral transmission—than when they are not—as in online sharing. Negative content seems to be reliably favored in both modalities of transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present experiment examined the effects of transmitted verbal descriptions on human responding under a schedule of reinforcement. An undergraduate (participant) was exposed to a multiple fixed-ratio (FR) 25 differential-reinforcement-of-low-rate (DRL) 5-s schedule. Then he was asked to describe how to obtain reinforcers. His description was presented to the next participant as instructions, prior to exposure to the same schedule. In this way, verbal descriptions generated by each participant were transmitted from one participant to the next for a total of 36 participants. Discrimination ratios, the ratios of the response rates during the FR component to the sum of the response rates during both components for these transmitted-instruction participants were higher than the ratios for no instruction participants who were exposed to the schedule with no instructions. The discrimination ratios positively correlated between successive participants with the transmitted instructions, whereas there was no correlation between the no instruction participants. These results were compared with previous results from experimental analyses of instructions and cultural transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on social learning has identified mechanisms that learners use to decide from whom to learn. Several of these mechanisms indicate that learners prefer to learn from more competent people over less competent people. This requires learners to measure the competence of other people. We use this article to analyze the incentives that this measure of competence creates. Learners measure the competence of models, people they would consider learning from, and share these judgments with other learners. This gives each model a reputation for competence within a community. Each model has a biological incentive to increase the magnitude of that reputation; at the very least, increasing the magnitude should make the model more attractive to potential mates. In this article, we present logic that indicates that one way for the model to increase the magnitude of that reputation is for the model to help people who think the model is competent. This reveals a novel evolutionary incentive for humans to help other humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among animal species, the songs of male humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are a rare example of social learning between entire populations. Understanding fine-scale similarity in song patterns and structural features will better clarify how accurately songs are learned during inter-population transmission. Here, six distinct song types (2009–2015) transmitted from the east Australian to New Caledonian populations were quantitatively analysed using fine-scale song features. Results found that New Caledonian whales learned each song type with high accuracy regardless of the pattern's complexity. However, there were rare instances of themes (stereotyped patterns of sound units) only sung by a single population. These occurred more often in progressively changing 'evolutionary' songs compared to rapidly changing 'revolutionary' songs. Our results suggest that populations do not need to reduce complexity to accurately learn song patterns. Populations may also incorporate changes and embellishments into songs in the form of themes which are suggested to be learnt as distinct segments. Maintaining complex song patterns with such accuracy suggests significant acoustic contact, supporting the hypothesis that song learning may occur on shared feeding grounds or migration routes. This study improves the understanding of inter-population mechanisms for large-scale cultural transmission in animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the long-term consequences of elementary school curricula on the formation of social preferences. The estimation results, using Japanese data, show that the hidden (non-academic) curriculum at public elementary schools varies widely by region and is associated with preference formation. Specifically, people who have experienced participatory and cooperative learning practices are more likely to be altruistic, cooperative with others, reciprocal, and have national pride. In contrast, education emphasizing anti-competitive practices is negatively associated with these attributes. Such contrasts can also be seen in other preferences regarding government policies and the market economy. The findings imply that elementary school education, as a place for early socialization, plays an important role in the formation of life-long social preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeological research is currently redefining how large-scale changes occurred in prehistoric times. In addition to the long-standing theoretical dichotomy between 'cultural transmission' and 'demic diffusion', many alternative models borrowed from sociology can be used to explain the spread of innovations. The emergence of urnfields in Middle and Late Bronze Age Europe is certainly one of these large-scale phenomena; its wide distribution has been traditionally emphasized by the use of the general term Urnenfelderkultur/zeit (starting around 1300 BC). Thanks to new evidence, we are now able to draw a more comprehensive picture, which shows a variety of regional responses to the introduction of the new funerary custom. The earliest 'urnfields' can be identified in central Hungary, among the tell communities of the late Nagyrév/Vatya Culture, around 2000 BC. From the nineteenth century BC onwards, the urnfield model is documented among communities in northeastern Serbia, south of the Iron Gates. During the subsequent collapse of the tell system, around 1500 BC, the urnfield model spread into some of the neighbouring regions. The adoption, however, appears more radical in the southern Po plain, as well as in the Sava/Drava/Lower Tisza plains, while in Lower Austria, Transdanubia and in the northern Po plain it seems more gradual and appears to have been subject to processes of syncretism/hybridization with traditional rites. Other areas seem to reject the novelty, at least until the latest phases of the Bronze Age. We argue that a possible explanation for these varied responses relates to the degree of interconnectedness and homophily among communities in the previous phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-fidelity cultural transmission, rather than brute intelligence, is the secret of our species' success, or so many cultural evolutionists claim. It has been selected because it ensures the spread, stability and longevity of beneficial cultural traditions, and it supports cumulative cultural change. To play these roles, however, fidelity must be a causally-efficient property of cultural transmission. This is where the grain problem comes in and challenges the explanatory potency of fidelity. Assessing the degree of fidelity of any episode or mechanism of cultural transmission always depends upon an investigator's choice of grain of description at which cultural traditions are being studied. The fidelity of cultural transmission then appears to be relative to the granularity at which one approaches cultural variation, and since there is a multiplicity of grains of description by which the same tradition can be studied, there results a multiplicity of measures of fidelity for a same event or mechanism of cultural transmission. If this is correct, because fidelity is always relative to the grain of description dictated by the local and specific research interests of the investigator, then there seems to be no fact of the matter as to whether cultural transmission is faithful or not, independently from a researcher's framework of analysis. The aims of this paper are to offer a conceptual clarification of the grain problem in cultural evolution, to assess its causes, to unpack its epistemological implications, and to examine its reach and consequences for a science of cultural evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the potential role of contingency adduction in creative behavior. Some have characterized creativity as the study of generativity. Generativity is the investigation of procedures that result in the occurrence of untrained, often composite, patterns from earlier trained components. An increasing number of applied programs are attempting to apply generative procedures in their design. Headsprout Early Reading®, for example, explicitly employed generative procedures to teach reading. There remains a lack of understanding about the role contingency adduction plays in the generative process. Contingency adduction is defined when patterns shaped under one context are recruited by contingencies in another context for which the pattern was not originally shaped. Adduced patterns may be new sequences of repertoires, the combination of repertoires, or the repertoire may acquire a new function. The moment of reinforcement of these new patterns from previously established patterns marks the moment of adduction. Thus, procedures that make such selection more likely may be fundamental to encourage what might be called creative behavior. Examples and nonexamples of contingency adduction involving both verbal and nonverbal procedures in both animals and humans will be described, and their implications noted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically investigates the impact of willingness to take risks on entrepreneurship. We use a quarter century of data on second-generation Americans from Current Population Surveys in conjunction with a measure of willingness to take risks based on the Global Preference Survey. The level of risk taking in the country of origin is found to have a positive and significant impact on the likelihood of being an entrepreneur. A one-standard deviation increase in risk taking increases the probability of being an entrepreneur by 18%. We find that risk taking is also robust to other preference and cultural factors such as trust, patience, and individualism, as well as several deep-root determinants of development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has demonstrated that the tendency to form first impressions from facial appearance emerges early in development. We examined whether social referencing is one route through which these consistent first impressions are acquired. In Study 1, we show that 5- to 7-year-old children are more likely to choose a target face previously associated with positive non-verbal signals as more trustworthy than a face previously associated with negative non-verbal signals. In Study 2, we show that children generalise this learning to novel faces who resemble those who have previously been the recipients of positive non-verbal behaviour. Taken together, these data show one means through which individuals within a community could acquire consistent, and potentially inaccurate, first impressions of others faces. In doing so, they highlight a route through which cultural transmission of first impressions can occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examined a model whereby the link between generativity and life satisfaction is mediated via meaning in work. Further we wished to assess if this mediation model would be moderated both by employees' chronological and subjective age. Namely although for persons who are older this model should hold irrespective of one' subjective age, for young adults, only those who have an older subjective age should show the benefits associated with increased generativity. The study sampled 654 employees from a variety of companies (mean age = 37.34, SD = 12.01). Participants completed questionnaires assessing generativity, meaning in work, life satisfaction, and subjective age. The mediation model was significant, i.e., the generativity-life satisfaction link was mediated via meaning in work. Moreover, while this model was evident for older employees, in accordance with the hypothesis, it was only true for young employees who had an older subjective age. Generativity in the workplace is advantageous both to the employer and employee, even for young workers who hold an older age identity. One's subjective age may be quite informative in the work context, as it may reflect motivations related to a different developmental stage, which may be advantageous to the worker and to the organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although a substantial literature in anthropology and comparative religion explores divination across diverse societies and back into history, little research has integrated the older ethnographic and historical work with recent insights on human learning, cultural transmission, and cognitive science. Here we present evidence showing that divination practices are often best viewed as an epistemic technology, and we formally model the scenarios under which individuals may overestimate the efficacy of divination that contribute to its cultural omnipresence and historical persistence. We found that strong prior belief, underreporting of negative evidence, and misinferring belief from behavior can all contribute to biased and inaccurate beliefs about the effectiveness of epistemic technologies. We finally suggest how scientific epistemology, as it emerged in Western societies over the past few centuries, has influenced the importance and cultural centrality of divination practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some cultural evolution researchers have argued for the importance of prestige bias as a systematic and widespread social learning bias, that structures human social learning and cultural transmission patterns. Broadly speaking, prestige bias accounts understand it as a bias towards copying 'prestigious' individuals (which are typically described as high-status, due to a high level of skill or success in a socially valued domain, and so are treated by others with respect and deference). Prestige bias, along with other social learning biases, has been argued to pay a crucial role in allowing cumulative cultural selection to take place, thereby generating adaptations that are key to our success as a species. However, I argue for skepticism about the plausibility and scope of a prestige bias account. I argue that although an account of prestige bias seems plausible or compelling on their face, it is committed to a particular view of the cognition underpinning the bias, and therefore to predictions regarding its flexibility and context-sensitivity. Given this, current empirical evidence gives us reason to doubt the explanatory value of a prestige bias account over a naive, goal-directed agent account. Additionally, the way that prestige is defined in empirical work is in tension with a general understanding of prestige, casting doubt upon its status as evidence of prestige bias. I examine two studies cited as evidence of prestige bias, arguing that in these cases we cannot clearly favour a prestige bias explanation over a goal-directed agent explanation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nearly all mass gathering events worldwide were banned at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, as they were suspected of presenting a considerable risk for the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. We investigated the risk of transmitting SARS-CoV-2 by droplets and aerosols during an experimental indoor mass gathering event under three different hygiene practices, and used the data in a simulation study to estimate the resulting burden of disease under conditions of controlled epidemics. Our results show that the mean number of measured direct contacts per visitor was nine persons and this can be reduced substantially by appropriate hygiene practices. A comparison of two versions of ventilation with different air exchange rates and different airflows found that the system which performed worst allowed a ten-fold increase in the number of individuals exposed to infectious aerosols. The overall burden of infections resulting from indoor mass gatherings depends largely on the quality of the ventilation system and the hygiene practices. Presuming an effective ventilation system, indoor mass gathering events with suitable hygiene practices have a very small, if any, effect on epidemic spread. Mass gathering events represent a risk for transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Here, the authors describe an experimental indoor test event in which individual contacts were measured and use aerosol and epidemiological modelling to evaluate transmission risks of different types of restrictions in the arena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parents' aspirations for their children's future educational attainment influence their child's educational aspirations. However, gender differences in the intergenerational transmission of educational aspirations have not been fully explored. The present study employed a two-step model of value transmission to provide a detailed picture of the gender patterns that occur during the transmission process of educational aspirations in late childhood. A total of 2857 Chinese students (Mage = 9.85 years, SD =.37, range = 8–12; 1373 girls) and their parents were followed from fourth to sixth grade. Fathers and mothers separately reported their educational aspirations for their children, and children reported their perceptions of their fathers' and mothers' educational aspirations for them as well as their own educational aspirations. The results indicate that different patterns for girls and boys emerged at each step of the transmission process. Specifically, in the perception step, girls exhibited more accurate perceptions of maternal educational aspirations than boys did, but this was not true of their perceptions of paternal educational aspirations. Furthermore, in the acceptance step, both boys and girls revealed higher levels of acceptance of their perceived same-sex parent's educational aspirations. Our study provides a framework for analyzing and understanding gender patterns in the intergenerational transmission of values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cultural transmission of spoken language and music relies on human capacities for encoding and recalling auditory patterns. In this experiment, we show that interindividual differences in this ability are associated with variation in the organization of cross-callosal white matter pathways. First, high-angular resolution diffusion MRI (dMRI) data were analyzed in a large participant sample (N = 51). Subsequently, these participants underwent a behavioral test that models in the laboratory the cultural transmission of auditory symbolic systems: the signaling game. Cross-callosal and intrahemispheric (arcuate fasciculus) pathways were reconstructed and analyzed using conventional diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) as well as a more advanced dMRI technique: fixel-based analysis (FBA). The DTI metric of fractional anisotropy (FA) in auditory callosal pathways predicted—weeks after scanning—the fidelity of transmission of an artificial tone system. The ability to coherently transmit auditory signals in one signaling game, irrespective of the signals learned during the previous game, was predicted by morphological properties of the fiber bundles in the most anterior portions of the corpus callosum. The current study is the first application of dMRI in the field of cultural transmission, and the first to connect individual characteristics of callosal pathways to core behaviors in the transmission of auditory symbolic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acoustical geographic variation is common in widely distributed species and it is already described for several taxa, at various scales. In cetaceans, intraspecific variation in acoustic repertoires has been linked to ecological factors, geographical barriers, and social processes. For the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), studies on acoustic variability are scarce, focus on a single signal type—whistles and on the influence of environmental variables. Here, we analyze the acoustic emissions of nine bottlenose dolphin populations across the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, and identify common signal types and acoustic variants to assess repertoires' (dis)similarity. Overall, these dolphins present a rich acoustic repertoire, with 24 distinct signal sub-types including: whistles, burst-pulsed sounds, brays and bangs. Acoustic divergence was observed only in social signals, suggesting the relevance of cultural transmission in geographic variation. The repertoire dissimilarity values were remarkably low (from 0.08 to 0.4) and do not reflect the geographic distances among populations. Our findings suggest that acoustic ecology may play an important role in the occurrence of intraspecific variability, as proposed by the 'environmental adaptation hypothesis'. Further work may clarify the boundaries between neighboring populations, and shed light into vocal learning and cultural transmission in bottlenose dolphin societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accumulated copying error model (ACE) combines findings on the proportional nature of human visual perception error with cultural transmission theory. Previous studies have employed ACE to provide population-level expectations of the coefficient of variation (CV) of a continuous trait, such as the thickness of ceramic vessels. To date, empirical departures from expected CV values have been interpreted as evidence of biased cultural transmission or functional constraints without consideration for how population size might affect population-level cultural variation in the presence of proportional perception error. Here, I employ agent-based simulation experiments to investigate the ways in which population size affects the CV of a continuous cultural trait under different cultural transmission mechanisms. Results show that the CV of a continuous cultural trait is a function of its cultural equivalent N and effective population size (Ne) as well as the relative strength of cultural selection. The results also demonstrate that different combinations of N and cultural transmission yield identical CV values. The study highlights a new set of difficulties with inferring individual-level process—the mechanism(s) by which cultural information is transmitted among individuals—from population-level pattern—the CV of a continuous cultural trait. In light of these results, I identify and discuss one avenue through which we might improve our ability to infer past cultural transmission from archeological data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although several nonhuman animals have the ability to recognize and match templates in computerized tasks, we know little about their ability to recall and then physically manufacture specific features of mental templates. Across three experiments, Goffin cockatoos (Cacatua goffiniana), a species that can use tools in captivity, were exposed to two pre-made template objects, varying in either colour, size (long or short) or shape (I or L-shaped), where only one template was rewarded. Birds were then given the opportunity to manufacture versions of these objects themselves. We found that all birds carved paper strips from the same colour material as the rewarded template, and half were also able to match the size of a template (long and short). This occurred despite the template being absent at test and birds being rewarded at random. However, we found no evidence that cockatoos could carve L-shaped pieces after learning that L-shaped templates were rewarded, though their manufactured strips were wider than in previous tests. Overall, our results show that Goffin cockatoos possess the ability to physically adjust at least the size dimension of manufactured objects relative to a mental template. This ability has previously only been shown in New Caledonian crows, where template matching was suggested as a potential mechanism allowing for the cumulative cultural transmission of tool designs. Our results show that within avian tool users, the ability to recreate a physical template from memory does not seem to be restricted to species that have cumulative tool cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of contraception often coincides with market integration and has transformative effects on fertility behavior. Yet many parents in small-scale societies make decisions about whether and when to adopt family planning in an environment where the payoffs to have smaller families are uncertain. Here we track the fertility of Maya women across 90 years, spanning the transition from natural to contracepting fertility. We first situate the uncertainty in which fertility decisions are made and model how childbearing behaviors respond. We find that contraception, a key factor in cultural transmission models of fertility decline, initially has little effect on family size as women appear to hedge their bets and adopt fertility control only at the end of their reproductive careers. Family planning is, however, associated with the spread of lower fertility in later cohorts. Distinguishing influences on the origin versus spread of a behaviour provides valuable insight into causal factors shaping individual and normative changes in fertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how innovative skills and knowledge are transmitted and acquired among adolescents in two hunter-gatherer communities, the Aka of southern Central African Republic and the Chabu of southwestern Ethiopia. Modes of transmission and processes of social learning are addressed. Innovation as well as social learning have been hypothesized to be key features of human cumulative culture, enhancing the fitness and survival of individuals in diverse environments. The innovation literature indicates adult males are more innovative than children and female adults and therefore predicts that adolescents will seek out adult males. Further, the mode of transmission should be oblique (i.e., learning from adults other than parents). Thus, learning of innovations should be oblique or horizontal rather than vertical, with adolescents paying particular attention to "successful" innovative individuals (prestige bias). The social learning literature indicates that complex skills or knowledge is likely to be learned through teaching, and therefore that teaching will be an important process in the transmission of innovations. In-depth and semi-structured interviews, informal observations, and systematic free-listing were used to evaluate these hypotheses. The study found that (1) cultural context patterned whether or not adolescents sought out adult male or female innovators; (2) oblique modes of transmission were mentioned with greater frequency than horizontal or vertical modes; (3) knowledge and skill bias was notable and explicitly linked by the adolescents to reproductive effort; and (4) teaching was biased toward same-sex individuals and was an important but not an exclusive means of transmitting complex skills and social knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aspects of human life history and cognition, such as our long childhoods and extensive use of teaching, theoretically evolved to facilitate the acquisition of complex tasks. The present paper empirically examines the relationship between subsistence task difficulty and age of acquisition, rates of teaching, and rates of oblique transmission among Hadza and BaYaka foragers from Tanzania and the Republic of Congo. We further examine cross-cultural variation in how and from whom learning occurred. Learning patterns and community perceptions of task difficulty were assessed through interviews. We found no relationship between task difficulty, age of acquisition, and oblique transmission, and a weak but positive relationship between task difficulty and rates of teaching. While same-sex transmission was normative in both societies, tasks ranked as more difficult were more likely to be transmitted by men among the BaYaka, but not among the Hadza, potentially reflecting cross-cultural differences in the sexual division of subsistence and teaching labor. Further, the BaYaka were more likely to report learning via teaching, and less likely to report learning via observation, than the Hadza, possibly owing to differences in socialization practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human mentation involves multiple formats of thought, which are connected substantially but partially, and may operate within or outside of awareness. The modes of thought include symbolic processes which are discrete representations with properties of reference and generativity, and which may be images or words, and subsymbolic components which are continuous in format and based on analogic relationships. The organization of experience is based on memory schemas, including emotion schemas organized through episodes that involve related sensory and bodily experiences with particular people in particular contexts. The referential process is a set of bidirectional functions that enable connection between the subsymbolic components operating in multiple sensory channels and the discrete single channel verbal code. The process involves three major functions: Arousal, the activation of an emotion schema not yet in symbolic form; Symbolizing, describing an event in which the schema has been activated; and Reflection/Reorganizing, exploring and elaborating the emotional meaning of such an event. The concepts of the theory concern psychological aspects of thought, but are potentially mappable onto the underlying neural structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stone artifact record has been one of the major grounds for investigating our evolution. With the predominant focus on their morphological attributes and technological aspects of manufacture, stone artifacts and their assemblages have been analyzed as explicit measures of past behaviors, adaptations, and population histories. This analytical focus on technological and morphological appearance is one of the characteristics of the conventional approach for constructing inferences from this record. An equally persistent routine involves ascribing the emerged patterns and variability within the archaeological deposits directly to long-term central tendencies in human actions and cultural transmission. Here we re-evaluate this conventional approach. By invoking some of the known concerns and concepts about the formation of archaeological record, we introduce notions of aggregates and formational emergence to expand on the understanding of how artifacts accumulate, what these accumulations represent, and how the patterns and variability among them emerge. To infer behavior that could inform on past lifeways, we further promote a shift in the focus of analysis from the technological and morphological appearance of artifacts and assemblages to the practice of stone use. We argue for a more rigorous and multi-level inferential procedure in modeling behavioral adaptation and evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]