scholarly journals Towards a Pricean foundation for cultural evolutionary theory

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Baravalle ◽  
Victor J. Luque
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Fundamental Equation ◽  
Price Equation ◽  
Dual Inheritance Theory ◽  
Heuristic Device ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary ◽  
Fundamental Equations ◽  
Dual Inheritance

The Price equation is currently considered one of the fundamental equations – or even the fundamental equation – of evolution. In this article, we explore the role of this equation within cultural evolutionary theory. More specifically, we use it to account for the explanatory power and the theoretical structure of a certain generalised version of dual-inheritance theory. First, we argue that, in spite of not having a definite empirical content, the Price equation offers a suitable formalisation of the processes of cultural evolution, and provides a powerful heuristic device for discovering the actual causes of cultural change and accumulation. Second, we argue that, as a consequence of this, a certain version of the Price equation is the fundamental law of cultural evolutionary theory. In order to support this claim, we sketch the ideal structure of dual-inheritance theory and we stress the unificatory role that the Price equation plays in it. 

Evolutionary and Complexity Theory

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy A. Kohler
Keyword(s):  
Complexity Theory ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Behavioral Ecology ◽  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Adaptive Systems ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Dual Inheritance Theory ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary ◽  
Dual Inheritance

Echoes of all the major approaches to applying evolutionary theory and method to the archaeological record can be found in the Southwest. Prior to about 1980, cultural evolutionary approaches were quite common; after that time, until the mid-1990s, selectionism was the dominant approach. More recently, human behavioral ecology and, to a smaller degree, dual inheritance theory have oriented most evolutionary research, while at the same time, research that draws on the theories and methods of complex adaptive systems has become more prominent. All of these approaches are likely to contribute to solving the grand challenges facing archaeology in the Southwest.

scholarly journals París, California y la búsqueda por una teoría del cambio cultural

2019 ◽  
pp. 223
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Baravalle
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Alternative Model ◽  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Genetic Inheritance ◽  
Dual Inheritance Theory ◽  
Cultural Epidemiology ◽  
Dan Sperber ◽  
Dual Inheritance

The debate on the possibility of an evolutionary theory of cultural change has heated up, over the last years, due to the supposed incompatibilities between the two main theoretical proposals in the field: dual inheritance theory and cultural epidemiology. The former, first formulated in the 1980’s by a group of biologists and anthropologists mostly hosted at Californian universities, supports an analogy between genetic inheritance and cultural transmission. Cultural epidemiology, more recently formulated by Dan Sperber and his collaborator (mostly hosted at Parisian universities), denies the defensibility of such an analogy and put forward a partially alternative model. But how much do these proposals actually differ with each other? In this article, I shall argue that less than what cultural epidemiologists use to think.

Niche Construction and the Study of Culture Change in Anthropology: Challenges and Prospects

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily A. Schultz
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Change ◽  
Population Biology ◽  
Niche Construction ◽  
Cultural Anthropology ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Ecological Change ◽  
Niche Construction Theory ◽  
Dual Inheritance Theory ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary ◽  
Dual Inheritance

<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>Abstract </strong></span>| Many North American anthropologists remain deeply suspicious of attempts to theorize the evolution of culture, given the legacy in our discipline of nineteenth-century stagist theories of cultural evolution that were shaped by scientific racism<span class="s2"><strong>. </strong></span>In the late twentieth-century, some theorists tried to escape this legacy by using formal models drawn from neo-Darwinian population biology to reconceptualize cultural evolutionary processes, but these more recent approaches have been found unsatisfactory for reasons of their own. For example, gene-culture coevolution and the dual inheritance theory have limited appeal to many contemporary cultural anthropologists because these theories rely on definitions of culture, and assumptions about human individuals and social groups, that many cultural anthropologists no longer find persuasive<span class="s2"><strong>.</strong></span>Niche construction, by contrast, appears more promising as a framework for connecting cultural change with biological and ecological change. Nevertheless, the innovative features of niche construction coexist uneasily alongside the same problematic features that limit the usefulness of gene-culture coevolution and dual inheritance theory in cultural anthropology<span class="s2"><strong>. </strong></span>This article discusses anthropological concerns about niche construction theory, but also suggests ways in which some of them might be reduced if niche construction theory were to incorporate insights from developmental systems theory and actor network theory.</p>

The Cradle of Humankind

2021 ◽  
pp. 114-134
Author(s):  
Geoff Kushnick
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Human Behavior ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Behavioral Ecology ◽  
The Other ◽  
Evolutionary Perspective ◽  
Dual Inheritance Theory ◽  
Cradle Of Humankind ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Dual Inheritance

This chapter explores the relationship between parenting and technology from an evolutionary perspective. The exploration is organized around the “three styles” framework for understanding and differentiating between the three major evolutionary approaches to the study of human behavior: evolutionary psychology, human behavioral ecology, and dual inheritance theory. For each of these evolutionary approaches, the chapter provides two examples of the relationship between parenting and technology, one related to childbearing and the other related to childrearing. Is the evolutionary approach a useful one to understand this relationship? First, although each has as its focus the application of evolutionary theory to the study of human behavior, each of the three styles brings a different set of assumptions and priorities. Second, an evolutionary perspective points to specific, and theoretically justified, behavioral concomitants of technological change.

scholarly journals Understanding Cultural Evolutionary Models: A Reply to Read's Critique

2006 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 771-782 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Henrich
Keyword(s):  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Evolutionary Models ◽  
Evolutionary Modeling ◽  
Alternative Analysis ◽  
Modeling Approaches ◽  
Dual Inheritance Theory ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Dual Inheritance ◽  
Empirical Analyses

This reply to Read's (2006) critique of my paper (Henrich 2004) is divided into three parts. Part I clarifies misinterpretations and mischaracterizations of both Dual Inheritance Theory in general and my model specifically. Part II addresses several problems in Read's empirical analyses of forager toolkits, and presents an alternative analysis. Part III tackles some common misunderstandings about the relationship between cost-benefit models (such as Read's) and cultural evolutionary modeling approaches, as well as highlighting some concerns with Read's efforts. In writing this, I have tried to introduce the reader to the issues in debate, but to fully understand this reply, one should read both my paper and Read’s critique.

scholarly journals Mode and tempo in the evolution of socio-political organization: reconciling ‘Darwinian’ and ‘Spencerian’ evolutionary approaches in anthropology

2011 ◽  
Vol 366 (1567) ◽  
pp. 1108-1117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Currie ◽  
Ruth Mace
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Regular Sequence ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
Political Complexity ◽  
Herbert Spencer ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary

Traditional investigations of the evolution of human social and political institutions trace their ancestry back to nineteenth century social scientists such as Herbert Spencer, and have concentrated on the increase in socio-political complexity over time. More recent studies of cultural evolution have been explicitly informed by Darwinian evolutionary theory and focus on the transmission of cultural traits between individuals. These two approaches to investigating cultural change are often seen as incompatible. However, we argue that many of the defining features and assumptions of ‘Spencerian’ cultural evolutionary theory represent testable hypotheses that can and should be tackled within a broader ‘Darwinian’ framework. In this paper we apply phylogenetic comparative techniques to data from Austronesian-speaking societies of Island South-East Asia and the Pacific to test hypotheses about the mode and tempo of human socio-political evolution. We find support for three ideas often associated with Spencerian cultural evolutionary theory: (i) political organization has evolved through a regular sequence of forms, (ii) increases in hierarchical political complexity have been more common than decreases, and (iii) political organization has co-evolved with the wider presence of hereditary social stratification.

Evolutionary Theory

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John H. Shaver ◽  
Grant Purzycki ◽  
Richard Sosis
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Behavioral Ecology ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Behavioral Plasticity ◽  
Group Level ◽  
Dual Inheritance Theory ◽  
Selection Processes ◽  
Evolutionary Force ◽  
Dual Inheritance

People in all cultures entertain beliefs in supernatural agents and engage in ritual behaviors that are related to those beliefs. This suggests that religion is a product of a shared evolutionary history. Currently researchers employ three major evolutionary frameworks to study religion—evolutionary psychology, behavioral ecology, and dual-inheritance theory—each with different assumptions, methods, and areas of focus. This chapter surveys these approaches and describes the major sources of disagreement between them. Two of the largest sources of disagreement among evolutionary scholars of religion are: (1) whether or not religion is a cognitive byproduct, or a manifestation of adaptive behavioral plasticity, and (2) whether or not individual or group-level selection processes are a more potent evolutionary force in shaping the significant features religion. The authors suggest that integrative frameworks that incorporate aspects of all these perspectives offer the best potential for real progress.

scholarly journals Is a non-evolutionary psychology possible?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Nettle ◽  
Thom Scott-Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Role Theory ◽  
Social Role ◽  
Weak Version ◽  
Human Psychology ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
Dual Inheritance Theory ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary ◽  
Dual Inheritance ◽  
Bayesian Cognitive Science

The last thirty years has seen the emergence of a self-styled ‘evolutionary’ paradigm within psychology (henceforth, EP). EP is often presented and critiqued as a distinctive, contentious paradigm, to be contrasted with other accounts of human psychology. However, little attention has been paid to the sense in which those other accounts are not evolutionary, or at least evolutionalizable. We distinguish between a commitment to evolution, and a more specific commitment to adaptationism. We argue that all formulable accounts of human psychology are evolutionary in a real sense: non-evolutionary psychology is impossible. Not all psychologies are explicitly adaptationist, but those that are not still draw on informal notions of organismal function, and thus implicitly require at least a weak version of adaptationism. We argue that the really distinctive and contentious feature of EP is not its commitment to evolution, or even adaptationism. It is the commitment to domain-specificity and the associated multiplicity of innately specialized psychological mechanisms. This commitment entails a narrow parsing of what an adaptive problem is, and has the consequence that the science of psychology ends up consisting of many narrow proximal explanations, rather than a few broad ones. We illustrate this thesis by examining a range of paradigms that can be seen as competitors to canonical EP: social role theory; cultural evolutionary psychology and dual inheritance theory; Bayesian cognitive science; and Giddens’ social theory. Narrow versus broad functional specialization emerges as the central locus of difference between the different psychologies we review.

scholarly journals The Cradle of Humankind: Evolutionary Approaches to Technology and Parenting

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoff Kushnick
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Behavioural Ecology ◽  
Soap Operas ◽  
Fertility Rates ◽  
Dual Inheritance Theory ◽  
Cradle Of Humankind ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Dual Inheritance

This chapter explores the relevance of evolutionary theory for understanding the relationship between technology and parenting. It does this by elaborating two examples -- one related to childbearing and one to childrearing -- for each of the three major paradigms in the application of evolutionary theory to human behaviour: human behavioural ecology, evolutionary psychology, and dual-inheritance theory. The examples range from a cross-cultural test of the idea that heavier female contribution to subsistence will lead to the development of more elaborate baby-carrying technology, to the demonstrated role tv-broadcasted soap operas have played in lowering fertility rates in some developing countries.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document