The evolution of cultural evolution

被引:571
作者
Henrich, J [1 ]
McElreath, R [1 ]
机构
[1] Emory Univ, Atlanta, GA 30322 USA
来源
EVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY | 2003年 / 12卷 / 03期
关键词
social learning; human evolution; culture and cognition; coevolution; dual inheritance theory;
D O I
10.1002/evan.10110
中图分类号
Q98 [人类学];
学科分类号
030303 ;
摘要
Humans are unique in their range of environments and in the nature and diversity of their behavioral adaptations. While a variety of local genetic adaptations exist within our species, it seems certain that the same basic genetic endowment produces arctic foraging, tropical horticulture, and desert pastoralism, a constellation that represents a greater range of subsistence behavior than the rest of the Primate Order combined. The behavioral adaptations that explain the immense success of our species are cultural in the sense that they are transmitted among individuals by social learning and have accumulated over generations. Understanding how and when such culturally evolved adaptations arise requires understanding of both the evolution of the psychological mechanisms that underlie human social learning and the evolutionary (population) dynamics of cultural systems.
引用
收藏
页码:123 / 135
页数:13
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