Critical points in current theory of conformist social learning
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12938853 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kimmo Eriksson (0000-0002-7164-0924, Mälardalen University, corresponding author), Magnus Enquist (0000-0003-0198-1288), Stefano Ghirlanda (0000-0002-7270-9612) |
| Year | 2007 |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 67-87 |
| Publication date | 2007-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Evolutionary Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1789-2082 • E-ISSN: 2060-5587 |
| Publisher | Akadémiai Kiadó (PUBLISHER • HU) |
| DOI | 10.1556/jep.2007.1009 |
| OpenAlex | W2085859216 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 22 |
| References cited | 9 |
Existing mathematical models suggest that gene-culture coevolution favours a conformist bias in social learning, that is, a psychological mechanism to preferentially acquire the most common cultural variants. Here we show that this conclusion relies on specific assumptions that seem unrealistic, such as that all cultural variants are known to every individual. We present two models that remove these assumptions, showing that: 1) the rate of cultural evolution and the adaptive value of culture are higher in a population in which individuals pick cultural variants at random (Random strategy) rather than picking the most common one (Conform strategy); 2) in genetic evolution the Random strategy out-competes the Conform strategy, unless cultural evolution is very slow, in which case Conform and Random usually coexist; 3) the individuals’ ability to evaluate cultural variants is a more important determinant of the adaptive value of culture than frequency-based choice strategies. We also review existing empirical literature and game-theoretic arguments for conformity, finding neither strong empirical evidence nor a strong theoretical expectation for a general conformist bias. Our own vignette study of social learning shows that people may indeed use different social learning strategies depending on context
Biology · Coevolution · Cognitive psychology · Conformist · Conformity · Context (archaeology · Economics · Epistemology · Evolutionary biology · Machine learning · Population · Positive economics · Social learning · Sociocultural evolution · Sociology · Value (mathematics · Vignette · Computer Science · Evolution and Genetic Dynamics · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · Language and cultural evolution · Psychology · Social Psychology
Humans copy rapidly increasing choices in a multiarmed bandit problem
A Bayesian approach to the evolution of social learning
The evolution of conformist social learning can cause population collapse in realistically variable environments
The when and who of social learning and conformist transmission
Conformity in nonhuman primates
Biases in cultural transmission shape the turnover of popular traits
Inferring Learning Strategies from Cultural Frequency Data
Sense and Nonsense
Human cumulative culture
Social Learning Strategies
Cognitive culture
Agenda Setting and The Emperor’s New Clothes
Prestige, conformity and gender consistency support a broad-context mechanism underpinning mate-choice copying
Prestige-biased cultural learning
Are Collectivistic Cultures More Prone to Rapid Transformation? Computational Models of Cross-Cultural Differences, Social Network Structure, Dynamic Social Influence, and Cultural Change
Cultural adaptation is maximised when intelligent individuals rarely think for themselves
Are people really conformist-biased? An empirical test and a new mathematical model
Modeling cultural change
Biases for acquiring information individually rather than socially
Synthesis in the human evolutionary behavioural sciences
Estimating two key dimensions of cultural transmission from archaeological data
Adaptive Social Learning Strategies in Temporally and Spatially Varying Environments
| Unique citing works | 22 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1.16 |
| Citation span | 2007 - 2025 (19) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 16 |