Revisiting the Effect of Population Size on Cumulative Cultural Evolution
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12822977 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ryan Baldini (University of California, Davis, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue | 3-4 |
| Pages | 320-336 |
| Publication date | 2015-08-26 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Cognition and Culture (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1567-7095 • E-ISSN: 1568-5373 |
| Publisher | Brill (PUBLISHER • NL) |
| DOI | 10.1163/15685373-12342153 |
| OpenAlex | W2951423025 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 9 |
| References cited | 25 |
Previous models of cultural evolution found that larger populations can better maintain complex technologies because they contain more highly skilled people whom others can imitate. These models, however, do not distinguish the effects of population size from population density or network size; a learner’s social network includes the entire population. Does population size remain important when populations are subdivided and networks are realistically small? I use a mathematical model to show that population size has little effect on equilibrium levels of mean skill under a wide range of conditions. The effects of network size and transmission error rate usually overshadow that of population size. Population size can, however, affect the rate at which a population approaches equilibrium, by increasing the rate at which innovations arise. This effect is small unless innovation is very rare. Population size should predict technological complexity in the real world, then, only if technological evolution is a slow, innovation-limited process. Population density and “connectedness” have similar affects to population size, though density can also affect equilibrium skill. I discuss the results of this analysis in light of the current empirical debate
Affect (linguistics · Biology · Cultural transmission in animals · Econometrics · Economics · Evolutionary biology · Population · Population density · Population growth · Population size · Social connectedness · Sociology · Statistics · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Demography · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · Language and cultural evolution · Mathematics · Psychology · Social Psychology
It’s All Connected, Man. A Review of César Hidalgo’s Why Information Grows
Innovation rate and population structure moderate the effect of population size on cumulative technological culture
The speakers of minority languages are more multilingual
Opening strategies in the game of go from feudalism to superhuman AI
Innovation-Facilitating Networks Create Inequality
Fidelity and the Speed of the Treadmill
Population Size and the Rate of Language Evolution
Stative progressives in Inner and Outer Circle varieties of English
Moving on from Here
An experimental demonstration of the effect of group size on cultural accumulation
Behavioral Modernity and the Cultural Transmission of Structured Information
Emergence of social complexity among coastal hunter-gatherers in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile
Experimental evidence for the influence of group size on cultural complexity
The selectivity of social learning and the tempo of cultural evolution
Understanding Cultural Evolutionary Models
A demographic model for Palaeolithic technological evolution
Demography and Cultural Innovation
Demography and Cultural Evolution
Tasmanian Knowledge and Skill
Can Anthropologists Distinguish Good and Poor Hunters? Implications for Hunting Hypotheses, Sharing Conventions, and Cultural Transmission
An Interaction Model for Resource Implement Complexity Based on Risk and Number of Annual Moves
| Unique citing works | 9 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,9 |
| Citation span | 2016 - 2025 (10) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 8 |