Learning from Culture

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Plotkin
Keyword(s):  
Individual Development ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Development And Evolution ◽  
Cultural Entities

This chapter examines some of the lessons that can be learned by social scientists from a naturalised science of culture. After considering whether culture is unique to humans, it discusses different kinds of cultural entities such as artefacts and how we should think about them. It then explores whether culture must be understood in terms of processes or mechanisms and evaluates the relative importance of individual development and evolution. Finally, it explores whether culture and cultural entities may be considered adaptations.

scholarly journals The Development of the Capacitor Industry and its Position in World Markets

1978 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-126
Author(s):  
Peter D. Driver
Keyword(s):  
Individual Development ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Development Trends ◽  
World Markets ◽  
Internal Pressures

This article sets out the existing position in world markets of the capacitor industry and discusses its development both technically and commercially over the next few years. It examines the major component product groups within the capacitor industry and indicates their relative importance in the total capacitor market and also their individual development trends.The external and internal pressures exerted on the capacitor industry are examined and their relative importance in connection with the development of the industry are disclosed.

scholarly journals Competition and extinction explain the evolution of diversity in American automobiles

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Gjesfjeld ◽  
Jonathan Chang ◽  
Daniele Silvestro ◽  
Christopher Kelty ◽  
Michael Alfaro
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Extrinsic Factors ◽  
Car Model ◽  
Extinction Rates ◽  
Technological Diversity ◽  
Occurrence Data ◽  
Technological Diversification ◽  
Evolution Of Technology

Abstract One of the most remarkable aspects of our species is that while we show surprisingly little genetic diversity, we demonstrate astonishing amounts of cultural diversity. Perhaps most impressive is the diversity of our technologies, broadly defined as all the physical objects we produce and the skills we use to produce them. Despite considerable focus on the evolution of technology by social scientists and philosophers, there have been few attempts to systematically quantify technological diversity, and therefore the dynamics of technological change remain poorly understood. Here we show a novel Bayesian model for examining technological diversification adopted from palaeontological analysis of occurrence data. We use this framework to estimate the tempo of diversification in American car and truck models produced between 1896 and 2014, and to test the relative importance of competition and extrinsic factors in shaping changes in macro-evolutionary rates. Our results identify a four-fold decrease in the origination and extinction rates of car models, and a negative net diversification rate over the last 30 years. We also demonstrate that competition played a more significant role in car model diversification than either changes in oil prices or gross domestic product. Together our analyses provide a set of tools that can enhance current research on technological and cultural evolution by providing a flexible and quantitative framework for exploring the dynamics of diversification.

scholarly journals An Evaluation of Research Needs for Agricultural Economists

1969 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 151-158
Author(s):  
R. J. Hildreth ◽  
Roland R. Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Qualitative Information ◽  
Research Activity ◽  
Department Of Agriculture ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Land Grant Institutions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Professional Research

An attempt will be made to indicate: (1) the future needs for social scientists, in general, and agricultural economists, in particular, for research in the land-grant institutions and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, (2) the location of these needs for agricultural economists, and (3) the types of research activities that are gaining in relative importance in the social sciences. The quantitative and qualitative information presented should provide some guidance in locating professional research workers where they are most needed.Let us examine the present and prospective allocation of social scientists among the various areas of research activity, as well as the relative importance of these areas.

scholarly journals Comment on “On History and Policy: Time in the Age of Neoliberalism”

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-40
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Streeck
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Social Development ◽  
Institutional Change ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Social Reality ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Systematic Theory ◽  
The World ◽  
Development And Evolution

It is not only economics that needs to regain a sense of history but also much of social science. Like economists social scientists need to liberate themselves from a Newtonian clockwork view of the world, and from a view of social reality as an emanation and arbitrary illustration of universal laws governing social life in general. Social science needs a renewed awareness of its origins in a systematic theory of historical social development and evolution, of endogenous social dynamics, and of directionality of social and institutional change, especially in contemporary capitalism, free from historical teleology and economic determinism.

The Logic of Historical Explanation in the Social Sciences

2008 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Mahoney ◽  
Erin Kimball ◽  
Kendra L. Koivu
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Comparative Studies ◽  
New Method ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Historical Explanation ◽  
The Social ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient

Historical explanations seek to identify the causes of outcomes in particular cases. Although social scientists commonly develop historical explanations, they lack criteria for distinguishing different types of causes and for evaluating the relative importance of alternative causes of the same outcome. This article first provides an inventory of the five types of causes that are normally used in historical explanations: (1) necessary but not sufficient, (2) sufficient but not necessary, (3) necessary and sufficient, (4) INUS, and (5) SUIN causes. It then introduces a new method—sequence elaboration—for evaluating the relative importance of causes. Sequence elaboration assesses the importance of causes through consideration of their position within a sequence and through consideration of the types of causes that make up the sequence as a whole. Throughout the article, methodological points are illustrated with substantive examples from the field of international and comparative studies.

scholarly journals Criticism of the Sociocultural Theory

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 1530-1540
Author(s):  
Maryam Ameri
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Development ◽  
Sociocultural Theory ◽  
Social Process ◽  
Human Learning ◽  
Individual Development ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
General Overview ◽  
Dynamic Relationship ◽  
Collaborative Interaction ◽  
Cognition And Culture

Sociocultural theory is an emerging theory in psychology that looks at the important contributions that society makes to individual development. This theory stresses the interaction between developing people and the culture in which they live. Sociocultural theory also suggests that human learning is largely a social process. Psychology is one of the newest sciences. Over the years, social scientists have developed theories or perspectives based off of their observations, research, and the perspectives of other scientists. Although there is some overlap, each of the major perspectives of psychology is unique. As a result, they each have strengths and weaknesses and explain psychology in a different way. SLA research in the tradition of sociocultural theory examines the dynamic relationship between interaction and acquisition, exploring how language, cognition, and culture are acquired through collaborative interaction. This paper presents an analysis of The Strengths and Weaknesses of the Sociocultural Theory and to present a general overview of Sociocultural Theory (SCT), and its relation to human cognitive development.

scholarly journals Psychosocial care and support in the field of intersex/diverse sex development (dsd): counselling experiences, localisation and needed improvements

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ute Lampalzer ◽  
Peer Briken ◽  
Katinka Schweizer
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experience ◽  
Psychosocial Care ◽  
Individual Development ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Medical Practitioners ◽  
Online Study ◽  
Counselling Services ◽  
Sex Development ◽  
Care And Support ◽  
The Individual

AbstractFrom different sides, there is a call for better psychosocial care and counselling in the field of diverse sex development (dsd). However, studies on the specific demands, deficits and needed improvements regarding those services are rare. This exploratory online study aimed at investigating counselling experiences and the ideas that different groups of participants have concerning the localisation of counselling structures and improving care. Quantitative and qualitative data (N = 630) were analysed within a mixed methods framework. The participants included experts of experience resp. patients with different intersex/dsd conditions (n = 40), parents of children with dsd (n = 27), professional psychosocial counsellors (n = 321) and experts in the field including medical practitioners, psychologists, natural and social scientists as well as others involved, e.g., students or relatives (n = 56). The results show a gap between receiving psychosocial and medical care in the group of adult lived-experience experts, who had received less psychosocial care than medical interventions. The findings also reveal important tasks of psychosocial care. A focus was set on parental experiences. Helpful aspects reported were talking with other parents of children with intersex/dsd, aspects missed were assistance in supporting the individual development of their children. The majority of all participants (58%) held the view that, apart from multidisciplinary competence centres, there also have to be easily accessible counselling services which offer support in everyday life. The participants named increasing quality and quantity as necessary improvements in counselling structures for children and adults with intersex/dsd and their families. Implications are drawn for the specific tasks and target groups of psychosocial care and needed research in intersex healthcare over life span.

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