(8) Transmission Biases Flashcards
Two Types of Social Learning
Which one is most associated with cultural selection?
Social Production Learning (active / explicit copying)
Social Consumption Learning (passive / implicit copying)
[the social learning strategies associated with cultural selection are mainly related to social consumption learning]
Neuroeconomics
The cognitive neuroscientific study of decision making and consumer behaviour.
Cultural Selection results in…
A change in the relative frequency of a trait in a population of variants.
Content Bias
The appeal of a trait can be based on its inherent features. These could be emotional features, physical attractiveness, memorability, social benefits, affordability.
This is prominent in commercial advertising.
Conformity Bias
Copying the majority of people, or the most common trait in a population.
- This is the most common frequency dependent bias.
- Causes the most popular trait to spread to the entire population and drive all other traits towards extinction.
- Winner-take-all process.
Prestige Bias
Copying high-status, successful, knowledgeable, dominant individuals.
- The most common model-based strategy.
- Includes celebrity endorsements in advertising, or opinion leaders in business or politics.
Similarity Bias
Tendency to preferentially affiliate with and learn from people we perceive as similar to ourselves. Relates to the process of homophily.
Cultural Drift
Unbiased, or random, copying in which individuals select variants according to the frequency at which they occur.
- Non-directional.
- Power-law distribution, winner-take-all process.
Natural Selection and Cultural Selection
Natural selection can change the frequency of cultural traits over time. Maladaptive cultural traits can reduce survival and/or reproduction.
ex. Smoking.
Cultural Migration
Demic or Cultural Diffusion.
- Introduces new variants into a population.
- Often leads to cultural blends between native and imported culture.
- Reduces between-group variation, opposes group-selection mechanisms.
Demic Diffusion
Cultural traits spread as their bearers physically move between groups.
Cultural Diffusion
Cultural traits move across group boundaries due to cultural transmission without the movement of people.
(ie. via mass media)
