Cultural Evolution

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Cultural Evolution

• Psychology 448C
• 10.1.08

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Agenda

• Lecture and film clip
• In-class exercise
• Discussion

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Where does cultural variation come from?

• Ecological and geographic variation (Diamond,
  1997)
• Different kinds of food are afforded by varying
  ecologies

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Film Clip Guns, Germs, and Steel
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Mechanisms of cultural variation

• Transmitted culture (Buss)
• People bring their ideas with them, spreading
  past initial set of geographic conditions
• Evoked culture (Tooby Cosmides, 1992)
• Situations trigger innate behaviors
• Ex Selecting attractive mates is most common in
  parasite-prevalent environments

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What can psychologists contribute?

• Historians study causal influences over long
  periods of time and often indirect relations
  between events
• Psychologists study causal influences that are
  more immediate, reflecting an individuals
  behavior

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How do ideas catch on?

• Ideas usually need to be communicated in order to
  spread. They spread within social networks, so
  some ideas vary across groups.
• Dynamic Social Impact Theory
• The frequency of interpersonal interaction
  influences the transmission of ideas.

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Example

• Do students attitudes cluster as a result of
  living in dormitories?
• Randomized hall assignment
• Measured attitudes at 2 weeks and 13 weeks

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Increase in Clustering of Attitudes

• All attitudes showed an increase in clustering
  over the term.
• especially for the attitudes rated as more
  important - these attitudes were discussed more.
• New subcultures were formed on the basis of the
  ideas that people regularly communicated.

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How do Ideas Catch On?

• Ideas usually need to be communicated in order to
  spread. They spread within social networks, so
  some ideas vary across groups.
• Ideas that convey useful information are spread
  (e.g., razors in Halloween candy).

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How do Ideas Catch On?

• Ideas usually need to be communicated in order to
  spread. They spread within social networks, so
  some ideas vary across groups.
• Ideas that convey useful information are spread.
• Emotional ideas spread.

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Did you hear the one about

• Emotional intensity of a story predicts whether
  people will relay it to others (Heath et al.,
  2001).
• Mild disgust Before he drank his soda he saw
  that there was a dead rat inside.
• Moderate disgust About halfway through he saw
  that there was a dead rat inside.
• Strong disgust He swallowed something lumpy and
  saw that there was a dead rat inside.

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Likelihood of Passing Story Along

• Participants were more likely to pass along
  stories that elicited strong emotions.

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How do Ideas Catch On?

• Ideas usually need to be communicated in order to
  spread. They spread within social networks, so
  some ideas vary across groups.
• Ideas that convey useful information are spread.
• Emotional ideas spread.
• Minimally counterintuitive ideas spread.

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Example

• Participants received a list of 18 intuitive and
  counterintuitive items to read (Norenzayan et
  al., 2006).
• Ps were randomly assigned to 4 conditions
• Entirely Intuitive (100 intuitive)
• Minimally Counterintuitive (72 intuitive)
• Equal Frequencies (50 intuitive)
• Maximally Counterintuitive (28 intuitive)

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Sample Items
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Three minutes after reading the items,
participants were asked to recall them.
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One week later, participants were again asked to
recall the items.
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Minimally counterintuitive ideas

• Over time, narratives that include a few, but not
  too many, counterintuitive items are recalled
  better.
• This is true of most religions, myths, and
  successful folk tales.

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Some of Grimms Folk Tales
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Cultures change

• Americans today behave differently than they did
  during World War II (Putnam, 2000)

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People are Participating Less in Civic Affairs
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People are Attending Church Less
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People are Entertaining Less at Home
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Families Eat Together Less Often
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People are Socializing Less
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People are Becoming Less Trusting
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People are Becoming Less Law-Abiding
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Some Causes

• Increased time pressures from families with dual
  incomes
• Suburban lifestyles
• Electronic entertainment
• Living through WW2

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Cultures persist

• Early conditions have disproportionate influence
  on cultural evolution
• Quakers in Philly versus Puritans in Boston
• Cultural adaptations are constrained by
  previously existing structures
• Bat wings evolved from arms
• Baseball in Japan

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Cultural Psychology Studies

• Most of the studies in cultural psychology
  reflect the persistence of culture
• Cultural change is more often pursued by
  sociologists, political scientists, and economists