scholarly journals High-magnitude innovators as keystone individuals in the evolution of culture

2018 ◽  
Vol 373 (1743) ◽  
pp. 20170053 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Arbilly
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Keystone Species ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Interdisciplinary Studies ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Independent Innovation ◽  
High Magnitude ◽  
Cultural Gaps ◽  
Behavioural Repertoire

Borrowing from the concept of keystone species in ecological food webs, a recent focus in the field of animal behaviour has been keystone individuals: individuals whose impact on population dynamics is disproportionally larger than their frequency in the population. In populations evolving culture, such may be the role of high-magnitude innovators: individuals whose innovations are a major departure from the population's existing behavioural repertoire. Their effect on cultural evolution is twofold: they produce innovations that constitute a ‘cultural leap' and, once copied, their innovations may induce further innovations by conspecifics (socially induced innovations) as they explore the new behaviour themselves. I use computer simulations to study the coevolution of independent innovations, socially induced innovations and innovation magnitude, and show that while socially induced innovation is assumed here to be less costly than independent innovation, it does not readily evolve. When it evolves, it may in some conditions select against independent innovation and lower its frequency, despite it requiring independent innovation in order to operate; at the same time, however, it leads to much faster cultural evolution. These results confirm the role of high-magnitude innovators as keystones, and suggest a novel explanation for the low frequency of independent innovation. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Bridging cultural gaps: interdisciplinary studies in human cultural evolution'.

scholarly journals High-magnitude innovators as keystone individuals in the evolution of culture

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Arbilly
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Food Webs ◽  
Computer Simulations ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Keystone Species ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Independent Innovation ◽  
High Magnitude ◽  
Behavioural Repertoire

AbstractBorrowing from the concept of keystone species in ecological food webs, a recent focus in the field of animal behaviour has been keystone individuals: individuals whose impact on population dynamics is disproportionally larger than their frequency in the population. In populations evolving culture, such may be the role of high-magnitude innovators: individuals whose innovations are a major departure from the population’s existing behavioural repertoire. Their effect on cultural evolution is twofold: they produce innovations that constitute a ‘cultural leap’, and, once copied, their innovations may induce further innovations by conspecifics (socially induced innovations), as they explore the new behaviour themselves. I use computer simulations to study the co-evolution of independent innovations, socially induced innovations, and innovation magnitude, and show that while socially induced innovation is assumed here to be less costly than independent innovation, it does not readily evolve. When it evolves, it may in some conditions select against independent innovation and lower its frequency, despite it requiring independent innovation in order to operate; at the same time, however, it leads to much faster cultural evolution. These results confirm the role of high-magnitude innovators as keystones, and suggest a novel explanation for low frequency of independent innovation.

scholarly journals Variation is the universal: making cultural evolution work in developmental psychology

2018 ◽  
Vol 373 (1743) ◽  
pp. 20170059 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Ann Kline ◽  
Rubeena Shamsudheen ◽  
Tanya Broesch
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Developmental Psychology ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Interdisciplinary Studies ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
Cross Cultural Research ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary ◽  
Geographical Scope ◽  
Cultural Gaps

Culture is a human universal, yet it is a source of variation in human psychology, behaviour and development. Developmental researchers are now expanding the geographical scope of research to include populations beyond relatively wealthy Western communities. However, culture and context still play a secondary role in the theoretical grounding of developmental psychology research, far too often. In this paper, we highlight four false assumptions that are common in psychology, and that detract from the quality of both standard and cross-cultural research in development. These assumptions are: (i) the universality assumption , that empirical uniformity is evidence for universality, while any variation is evidence for culturally derived variation; (ii) the Western centrality assumption , that Western populations represent a normal and/or healthy standard against which development in all societies can be compared; (iii) the deficit assumption , that population-level differences in developmental timing or outcomes are necessarily due to something lacking among non-Western populations; and (iv) the equivalency assumption , that using identical research methods will necessarily produce equivalent and externally valid data, across disparate cultural contexts. For each assumption, we draw on cultural evolutionary theory to critique and replace the assumption with a theoretically grounded approach to culture in development. We support these suggestions with positive examples drawn from research in development. Finally, we conclude with a call for researchers to take reasonable steps towards more fully incorporating culture and context into studies of development, by expanding their participant pools in strategic ways. This will lead to a more inclusive and therefore more accurate description of human development. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Bridging cultural gaps: interdisciplinary studies in human cultural evolution’.

scholarly journals Calculating the Unknown. Rationalities of Operational Risk in Financial Institutions

2010 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-250
Author(s):  
Hajo Greif ◽  
Matthias Werner
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Risk Category ◽  
Operational Risks ◽  
High Magnitude ◽  
Risk Analysis And Management

In this paper, findings of a study on the perception and policing of information-technology (ICT) related operational risks are presented, with a view on identifying some part of the role that these technologies, and the specific organisational settings in which they are embedded, may have played in the making of the 2007+ financial crisis. The study’s findings concern, firstly, biases in risk perception that turn a blind eye towards certain operational risks; secondly, competing, qualitative vs. quantitative norms and methods of risk analysis and management and their significance for the governance of financial institutions; and thirdly, the role of ICTs as organisational technologies that work both as sources and as remedies of operational risks. The use of ICTs in financial institutions, it is concluded, while not being fully acknowledged in its organisational role, caters to the calculative rationality to which the analysis, management and governance of operational and other risks are increasingly subjected. Presuming that all kinds of risk can be made calculable and computable, this calculative rationality either misses out or obscures one important risk category: low frequency/ high magnitude risks, which tend to cross the boundary between calculable risk and genuine uncertainty of knowledge.

scholarly journals Tool use as adaptation

2013 ◽  
Vol 368 (1630) ◽  
pp. 20120408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dora Biro ◽  
Michael Haslam ◽  
Christian Rutz
Keyword(s):  
Tool Use ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
Research Perspectives ◽  
Evolutionary Context ◽  
Vital Component ◽  
Multiple Species ◽  
Behavioural Repertoire

Tool use is a vital component of the human behavioural repertoire. The benefits of tool use have often been assumed to be self-evident: by extending control over our environment, we have increased energetic returns and buffered ourselves from potentially harmful influences. In recent decades, however, the study of tool use in both humans and non-human animals has expanded the way we think about the role of tools in the natural world. This Theme Issue is aimed at bringing together this developing body of knowledge, gathered across multiple species and from multiple research perspectives, to chart the wider evolutionary context of this phylogenetically rare behaviour.

scholarly journals Integrative studies of cultural evolution: crossing disciplinary boundaries to produce new insights

2018 ◽  
Vol 373 (1743) ◽  
pp. 20170048 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oren Kolodny ◽  
Marcus W. Feldman ◽  
Nicole Creanza
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Human Genetics ◽  
Evolutionary Genetics ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Interdisciplinary Studies ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
Disciplinary Boundaries ◽  
Population Interactions ◽  
Complex Phenomena ◽  
Cultural Gaps

Culture evolves according to dynamics on multiple temporal scales, from individuals' minute-by-minute behaviour to millennia of cultural accumulation that give rise to population-level differences. These dynamics act on a range of entities—including behavioural sequences, ideas and artefacts as well as individuals, populations and whole species—and involve mechanisms at multiple levels, from neurons in brains to inter-population interactions. Studying such complex phenomena requires an integration of perspectives from a diverse array of fields, as well as bridging gaps between traditionally disparate areas of study. In this article, which also serves as an introduction to the current special issue, we highlight some specific respects in which the study of cultural evolution has benefited and should continue to benefit from an integrative approach. We showcase a number of pioneering studies of cultural evolution that bring together numerous disciplines. These studies illustrate the value of perspectives from different fields for understanding cultural evolution, such as cognitive science and neuroanatomy, behavioural ecology, population dynamics, and evolutionary genetics. They also underscore the importance of understanding cultural processes when interpreting research about human genetics, neuroscience, behaviour and evolution. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Bridging cultural gaps: interdisciplinary studies in human cultural evolution’.

scholarly journals Not by transmission alone: the role of invention in cultural evolution

2021 ◽  
Vol 376 (1828) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Perry ◽  
Alecia Carter ◽  
Marco Smolla ◽  
Erol Akçay ◽  
Sabine Nöbel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Cultural Adaptation ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Four Levels ◽  
New Research

Innovation—the combination of invention and social learning—can empower species to invade new niches via cultural adaptation. Social learning has typically been regarded as the fundamental driver for the emergence of traditions and thus culture. Consequently, invention has been relatively understudied outside the human lineage—despite being the source of new traditions. This neglect leaves basic questions unanswered: what factors promote the creation of new ideas and practices? What affects their spread or loss? We critically review the existing literature, focusing on four levels of investigation: traits (what sorts of behaviours are easiest to invent?), individuals (what factors make some individuals more likely to be inventors?), ecological contexts (what aspects of the environment make invention or transmission more likely?), and populations (what features of relationships and societies promote the rise and spread of new inventions?). We aim to inspire new research by highlighting theoretical and empirical gaps in the study of innovation, focusing primarily on inventions in non-humans. Understanding the role of invention and innovation in the history of life requires a well-developed theoretical framework (which embraces cognitive processes) and a taxonomically broad, cross-species dataset that explicitly investigates inventions and their transmission. We outline such an agenda here. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Foundations of cultural evolution’.

scholarly journals Cultural transmission in an ever-changing world: trial-and-error copying may be more robust than precise imitation

2018 ◽  
Vol 373 (1743) ◽  
pp. 20170050 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noa Truskanov ◽  
Yosef Prat
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Interdisciplinary Studies ◽  
Social Transmission ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Ecological Changes ◽  
The Social ◽  
Actual Environment ◽  
Cultural Gaps

Cultural transmission facilitates the spread of behaviours within social groups and may lead to the establishment of stable traditions in both human and non-human animals. The fidelity of transmission is frequently emphasized as a core component of cultural evolution and as a prerequisite for cumulative culture. Fidelity is often considered a synonym of precise copying of observed behaviours. However, while precise copying guarantees reliable transmission in an ideal static world, it may be vulnerable to realistic variability in the actual environment. Here, we argue that fidelity may be more naturally achieved when the social learning mechanisms incorporate trial-and-error; and that the robustness of social transmission is thereby increased. We employed a simple model to demonstrate how culture that is produced through exact copying is fragile in an (even slightly) noisy world. When incorporating a certain degree of trial-and-error, however, cultures are more readily formed in a stochastic environment and are less vulnerable to rare ecological changes. We suggest that considering trial-and-error learning as a stabilizing component of social transmission may provide insights into cultural evolution in a realistic, variable, world. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Bridging cultural gaps: interdisciplinary studies in human cultural evolution’.

scholarly journals Calculating the Unknown. Rationalities of Operational Risk in Financial Institutions

2010 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hajo Greif ◽  
Matthias Werner
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Risk Category ◽  
Operational Risks ◽  
High Magnitude ◽  
Risk Analysis And Management

In this paper, findings of a study on the perception and policing of information-technology (ICT) related operational risks are presented, with a view on identifying some part of the role that these technologies, and the specific organisational settings in which they are embedded, may have played in the making of the 2007+ financial crisis. The study’s findings concern, firstly, biases in risk perception that turn a blind eye towards certain operational risks; secondly, competing, qualitative vs. quantitative norms and methods of risk analysis and management and their significance for the governance of financial institutions; and thirdly, the role of ICTs as organisational technologies that work both as sources and as remedies of operational risks. The use of ICTs in financial institutions, it is concluded, while not being fully acknowledged in its organisational role, caters to the calculative rationality to which the analysis, management and governance of operational and other risks are increasingly subjected. Presuming that all kinds of risk can be made calculable and computable, this calculative rationality either misses out or obscures one important risk category: low frequency/ high magnitude risks, which tend to cross the boundary between calculable risk and genuine uncertainty of knowledge.

Refining our understanding of the “elephant in the room”

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Whiten
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Critical Factors ◽  
Technological Culture

Abstract The authors do the field of cultural evolution a service by exploring the role of non-social cognition in human cumulative technological culture, truly neglected in comparison with socio-cognitive abilities frequently assumed to be the primary drivers. Some specifics of their delineation of the critical factors are problematic, however. I highlight recent chimpanzee–human comparative findings that should help refine such analyses.

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