scholarly journals The Life History of Learning Subsistence Skills among Hadza and BaYaka Foragers from Tanzania and the Republic of Congo

Human Nature ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheina Lew-Levy ◽  
Erik J. Ringen ◽  
Alyssa N. Crittenden ◽  
Ibrahim A. Mabulla ◽  
Tanya Broesch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Age Of Acquisition ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Variation ◽  
Republic Of Congo ◽  
Cross Cultural Differences ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Republic

AbstractAspects 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.

scholarly journals The life history of learning subsistence skills among Hadza and BaYaka foragers from Tanzania and the Republic of Congo

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheina Lew-Levy ◽  
Erik Ringen ◽  
Alyssa N. Crittenden ◽  
Ibrahim A. Mabulla ◽  
Tanya Broesch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Age Of Acquisition ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Variation ◽  
Republic Of Congo ◽  
Cross Cultural Differences ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Republic

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 examined 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 examined 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 due to differences in socialization practices. These findings suggest that patterns of transmission are highly variable across cultures.

scholarly journals The Life History Of Human Foraging: Cross-Cultural And Individual Variation

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Koster ◽  
Richard Mcelreath ◽  
Kim Hill ◽  
Douglas Yu ◽  
Glenn Shepard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Cultural Adaptation ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Learning ◽  
Substantial Variation ◽  
History Of ◽  
Study Sites ◽  
Human Foraging ◽  
High Skill

ABSTRACTHuman adaptation depends upon the integration of slow life history, complex production skills, and extensive sociality. Refining and testing models of the evolution of human life history and cultural learning will benefit from increasingly accurate measurement of knowledge, skills, and rates of production with age. We pursue this goal by inferring individual hunters’ of hunting skill gain and loss from approximately 23,000 hunting records generated by more than 1,800 individuals at 40 locations. The model provides an improved picture of ages of peak productivity as well as variation within and among ages. The data reveal an average age of peak productivity between 30 and 35 years of age, though high skill is maintained throughout much of adulthood. In addition, there is substantial variation both among individuals and sites. Within study sites, variation among individuals depends more upon heterogeneity in rates of decline than in rates of increase. This analysis sharpens questions about the co-evolution of human life history and cultural adaptation. It also demonstrates new statistical algorithms and models that expand the potential inferences drawn from detailed quantitative data collected in the field.

scholarly journals The life history of human foraging: Cross-cultural and individual variation

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (26) ◽  
pp. eaax9070 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Koster ◽  
Richard McElreath ◽  
Kim Hill ◽  
Douglas Yu ◽  
Glenn Shepard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Cultural Adaptation ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Learning ◽  
Substantial Variation ◽  
History Of ◽  
Study Sites ◽  
Human Foraging ◽  
High Skill

Human adaptation depends on the integration of slow life history, complex production skills, and extensive sociality. Refining and testing models of the evolution of human life history and cultural learning benefit from increasingly accurate measurement of knowledge, skills, and rates of production with age. We pursue this goal by inferring hunters’ increases and declines of skill from approximately 23,000 hunting records generated by more than 1800 individuals at 40 locations. The data reveal an average age of peak productivity between 30 and 35 years of age, although high skill is maintained throughout much of adulthood. In addition, there is substantial variation both among individuals and sites. Within study sites, variation among individuals depends more on heterogeneity in rates of decline than in rates of increase. This analysis sharpens questions about the coevolution of human life history and cultural adaptation.

The role of social eye-gaze in children’s and adults’ ownership attributions to robotic agents in three cultures

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Kanngiesser ◽  
Shoji Itakura ◽  
Yue Zhou ◽  
Takayuki Kanda ◽  
Hiroshi Ishiguro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eye Gaze ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Variation ◽  
Social Agents ◽  
Human Interactions ◽  
Cross Cultural Differences ◽  
Social Gaze ◽  
Social Attributions ◽  
Human Participants

Young children often treat robots as social agents after they have witnessed interactions that can be interpreted as social. We studied in three experiments whether four-year-olds from three cultures (China, Japan, UK) and adults from two cultures (Japan, UK) will attribute ownership of objects to a robot that engages in social gaze with a human. Participants watched videos of robot-human interactions, in which objects were possessed or new objects were created. Children and adults applied the same ownership rules to humans and robots – irrespective of whether the robot engaged in social gaze or not. However, there was cultural variation in the types of ownership rules used. In Experiment 3, we removed further social cues, finding that just showing a pair of self-propelled robot-arms elicited ownership attributions. The role of social gaze in social attributions to robots and cross-cultural differences in ownership understanding are discussed.

scholarly journals Enhanced Cognitive Flexibility in the Seminomadic Himba

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah M. Pope ◽  
Joël Fagot ◽  
Adrien Meguerditchian ◽  
David A. Washburn ◽  
William D. Hopkins
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Educational Background ◽  
Strategy Use ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cognitive Set ◽  
Cultural Variation ◽  
Solution Strategy ◽  
Viable Option ◽  
Cross Cultural Differences

Through codified rule-use, humans can accurately solve many problems. Yet, mechanized strategies can also be costly. After adopting a solution strategy, humans often become blind to alternatives, even when those alternatives are more efficient. Termed cognitive set, this failure to switch from a familiar strategy to a better alternative has been considered universally human. Yet, our understanding of this phenomenon is derived almost exclusively from Western subjects. In this study, we used the nonverbal Learned Strategy–Direct Strategy (LS-DS) touchscreen task in which subjects are presented with an opportunity to use either a learned strategy or a more efficient, but novel, shortcut. We found that the remote, seminomadic Himba of northern Namibia exhibited enhanced shortcut-use on the LS-DS task, challenging the claim that cognitive set affects humans universally. In addition, we found that altering subjects’ conceptualization of the shortcut as a viable option significantly enhanced its subsequent use in Western but not Himba participants. We discuss how other aspects of cultural variation, namely, environmental uncertainty and educational background, might contribute to the observed cross-cultural differences in flexible strategy-use.

Cross-cultural differences in children's emotional reactions to a disappointing situation

2007 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia T. Garrett-Peters ◽  
Nathan A. Fox
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Positive Trend ◽  
Cultural Variation ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Negative Behaviors ◽  
Cross Cultural Differences ◽  
Social Monitoring ◽  
Statistical Trends

Cross-cultural differences in emotional expressions following disappointment were examined in 59 Chinese American (CA) and 58 European American (EA) children. Children aged four or seven participated in a disappointing gift situation. Dimensions of expressive behaviors following disappointment were coded and included positive, negative, social monitoring, and tension behaviors. Significant main effects emerged for ethnicity and age, with EA children and older children demonstrating more positive behaviors than CA children and younger children, respectively. Younger children also demonstrated significantly more negative behaviors than older children. This main effect was qualified by a nearly significant age by ethnicity interaction, indicating developmental differences in the negative expressions for the EA group, but not for the CA group. Among the CA group, child adaptation of Western values was inversely associated with negative expressions, and a positive trend was found for positive expressions. Statistical trends were also found in which boys demonstrated more negative behaviors than girls and in which EA children demonstrated more total expressive behaviors than CA children. Implications of these findings are discussed with regard to cultural and familial processes, as well as cultural variation in children's cognitions about emotions.

scholarly journals Uncoupling of the Infancy Life History Stage

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Ze’ev Hochberg
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Life History Stage ◽  
Biological Traits ◽  
Deciduous Dentition ◽  
Childhood Growth ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Industrial Societies

<b><i>Background:</i></b> The life history of <i>Homo sapiens</i> is unique in having a comparatively short stage of infancy which lasts for 2–3 years. Infancy is characterized by suckling of breast milk, the development of sensorimotor cognition, the acquisition of language, mini-puberty, deciduous dentition, and almost complete skull growth. Infancy ends with the infancy-childhood growth transition (ICT) and separation from the mother. In modern-day affluent societies, breastfeeding depends on the mother’s decision and may happen at any age, and the characteristic traits of infancy have uncoupled. The data and theory for this contention are presented. <b><i>Summary:</i></b> The biological traits of mini-puberty and ICT characteristic of infancy occur before age 1 along with language acquisition. The cognitive (sensorimotor) component occurs by age 2, and the social component of separation from the mother by any age from 1 to 3 years. <b><i>Key Messages:</i></b> Human life history is based on a coherent stage of infancy which assumes coupling between the biological, cognitive, and social maturation of a baby. This is no longer the case in industrial societies and might never be so again. The upbringing of an infant needs to consider the new biology of this dissociated infancy and a new timetable of the infant’s life-history events.

scholarly journals Enhanced cognitive flexibility in the semi-nomadic Himba

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Pope ◽  
Joel Fagot ◽  
Adrien Meguerditchian ◽  
David Washburn ◽  
William D. Hopkins
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Educational Background ◽  
Strategy Use ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cognitive Set ◽  
Cultural Variation ◽  
Solution Strategy ◽  
Viable Option ◽  
Cross Cultural Differences

Through codified rule-use humans can accurately solve many problems. Yet, mechanized strategies can also be costly. After adopting a solution strategy, humans often become blind to alternatives, even when those alternatives are more efficient. Termed cognitive set, this failure to switch from a familiar strategy to a better alternative has been considered universally human. Yet, our understanding of this phenomenon is derived almost exclusively from Western subjects. In this study, we used the nonverbal Learned Strategy-Direct Strategy (LS-DS) touch screen task in which subjects are presented with an opportunity to either use a learned strategy or a more efficient, but novel, shortcut. We found that the remote, seminomadic Himba of northern Namibia exhibited enhanced shortcut-use on the LS-DS task, challenging the claim that cognitive set affects humans universally. Additionally, we found that altering subjects’ conceptualization of the shortcut as a viable option significantly enhanced its subsequent use in Western but not Himba participants. We discuss how other aspects of cultural variation, namely environmental uncertainty and educational background, might contribute to the observed cross-cultural differences in flexible strategy-use.

scholarly journals Investigating Emotion Perception via the Two-Dimensional Affect and Feeling Space: An Example of a Cross-Cultural Study Among Chinese and Non-Chinese Participants

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pernelle Lorette
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Perception ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Variation ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Cross Cultural Differences ◽  
New Instrument ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Specific Emotion ◽  
Valence And Arousal ◽  
User Friendly

The categorical approach to cross-cultural emotion perception research has mainly relied on constrained experimental tasks, which have arguably biased previous findings and attenuated cross-cultural differences. On the other hand, in the constructionist approach, conclusions on the universal nature of valence and arousal have mainly been indirectly drawn based on participants' word-matching or free-sorting behaviors, but studies based on participants' continuous valence and arousal ratings are very scarce. When it comes to self-reports of specific emotion perception, constructionists tend to rely on free labeling, which has its own limitations. In an attempt to move beyond the limitations of previous methods, a new instrument called the Two-Dimensional Affect and Feeling Space (2DAFS) has been developed. The 2DAFS is a useful, innovative, and user-friendly instrument that can easily be integrated in online surveys and allows for the collection of both continuous valence and arousal ratings and categorical emotion perception data in a quick and flexible way. In order to illustrate the usefulness of this tool, a cross-cultural emotion perception study based on the 2DAFS is reported. The results indicate the cross-cultural variation in valence and arousal perception, suggesting that the minimal universality hypothesis might need to be more nuanced.

scholarly journals Cross-cultural variation in political leadership styles

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 749-766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petia Paramova ◽  
Herbert Blumberg
Keyword(s):  
Transformational Leadership ◽  
Multivariate Analyses ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Variation ◽  
Contextual Influences ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Cross Cultural Differences ◽  
Culturally Different ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Applied Fields

Guided by gaps in the literature with regard to the study of politicians the aim of the research is to explore cross-cultural differences in political leaders’ style. It compares the MLQ (Avolio & Bass, 2004) scores of elected political leaders (N = 140) in Bulgaria and the UK. The statistical exploration of the data relied on multivariate analyses of covariance. The findings of comparisons across the two groups reveal that compared to British political leaders, Bulgarian leaders were more likely to frequently use both transactional and passive/avoidant behaviours. The study tests Bass’s (1997) strong assertion about the universality of transformational leadership. It contributes to the leadership literature by providing directly measured data relating to the behaviours of political leaders. Such information on the characteristics of politicians could allow for more directional hypotheses in subsequent research, exploring the contextual influences within transformational leadership theory. The outcomes might also aid applied fields. Knowledge gained of culturally different leaders could be welcomed by multicultural political and economic unions, wherein understanding and allowances might aid communication.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document