2008
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2008.0129
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Abstract: In this paper, we explore how experimental studies of cultural transmission in adult humans can address general questions regarding the 'who, what, when and how' of human cultural transmission, and consequently inform a theory of human cultural evolution. Three methods are discussed. The transmission chain method, in which information is passed along linear chains of participants, has been used to identify content biases in cultural transmission. These concern the kind of information that is transmitted. Sever… Show more

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Cited by 320 publications
(246 citation statements)
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References 83 publications
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“…We might focus on the function of heterogeneity in how people make decisions, particularly the balance of individual learning, which produces information, and social learning, which diffuses and exploits that information [10,17,18]. All too often, however, observational data alone fail to distinguish not only between social learning and individual learning, but also between social learning and homophily-the tendency for people with similar traits to co-associate [19,20].…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…We might focus on the function of heterogeneity in how people make decisions, particularly the balance of individual learning, which produces information, and social learning, which diffuses and exploits that information [10,17,18]. All too often, however, observational data alone fail to distinguish not only between social learning and individual learning, but also between social learning and homophily-the tendency for people with similar traits to co-associate [19,20].…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…As we noted in our introductory review, the literature addressing this topic through experiments remains limited, especially with children. The latter have focused on cumulative social learning, but either omitted the wider cultural diffusion necessary to identify 'innovation' as here defined [26,46,50], or employed a task that necessarily required cumulative steps for success, constraining inferences about the importance of cumulation in progressive achievements [47], or offered a task in which children could obtain no rewards other than transferring maximal quantities of rice between two containers, as an experimenter encouraged them to attempt [48]. Children showed little or no evidence of cumulative culture in the latter experiment; however, most could already spontaneously recognise adequate ways of transferring rice from the start.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Robust experiments can be designed to test for social learning, by seeding alternative actions in models viewed by others in dyadic or diffusion designs, and/or by adding asocial controls [26][27][28]. But in such instances, the experimenters contribute the 'inventions', whereas to test for cumulative culture in the round, we need to allow the participants themselves to contribute inventions as well as social learning.…”
Section: (A) Defining and Identifying Invention Innovation Social Lmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Here, 15 experimental participants were asked to copy the three-dimensional shape properties of an artifact in the form of a "transmission chain," whereby each participant copied the "artifact" produced by a previous participant. Transmission chains of this form are being increasingly used to study social learning processes (Mesoudi and Whiten, 2008). The transmission chain in Figure 4 was initiated by use of a "target" model artifact, which was deliberately designed to resemble an Acheulean handaxe.…”
Section: Social Learning and Acheulean Variation: Mechanisms And Mutamentioning
confidence: 99%