| 1. |
- Acerbi, Alberto, et al.
(författare)
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Behavioral constraints and the evolution of faithful social learning
- 2012
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Ingår i: Current Zoology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1674-5507 .- 2396-9814. ; 58:2, s. 307-318
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Behavioral “traditions”, i.e. behavioral patterns that are acquired with the aid of social learning and that are relativelystable in a group, have been observed in several species. Recently, however, it has been questioned whether non-human sociallearning is faithful enough to stabilize those patterns. The observed stability could be interpreted as a result of various constraintsthat limit the number of possible alternative behaviors, rather than of the fidelity of transmission mechanisms. Those constraints canbe roughly described as “internal”, such as mechanical (bodily) properties or cognitive limitations and predispositions, and “external”, such as ecological availability or pressures. Here we present an evolutionary individual-based model that explores the relationships between the evolution of faithful social learning and behavioral constraints, represented both by the size of the behavioral repertoire and by the “shape” of the search space of a given task. We show that the evolution of high-fidelity transmission mechanisms, when associated with costs (e.g. cognitive, biomechanical, energetic, etc.), is only likely if the potential behavioral repertoire of a species is large and if the search space does not provide information that can be exploited by individual learning. Moreover we show how stable behavioral patterns (“traditions”) can be achieved at the population level as an outcome of both high-fidelity and low-fidelity transmission mechanisms, given that the latter are coupled with a small behavioral repertoire or with a search space that provide substantial feedback. Finally, by introducing the possibility of environmental change, we show that intermediaterates of change favor the evolution of faithful social learning.
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| 2. |
- Acerbi, Alberto, et al.
(författare)
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Cultural evolution and individual development of openness and conservatism
- 2009
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 106:45, s. 18931-18935
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present a model of cultural evolution in which an individual's propensity to engage in social learning is affected by social learning itself. We assume that individuals observe cultural traits displayed by others and decide whether to copy them based on their overall preference for the displayed traits. Preferences, too, can be transmitted between individuals. Our results show that such cultural dynamics tends to produce conservative individuals, i.e., individuals who are reluctant to copy new traits. Openness to new information, however, can be maintained when individuals need significant time to acquire the cultural traits that make them effective cultural models. We show that a gradual enculturation of young individuals by many models and a larger cultural repertoire to be acquired are favorable circumstances for the long-term maintenance of openness in individuals and groups. Our results agree with data about lifetime personality change, showing that openness to new information decreases with age. Our results show that cultural remodeling of cultural transmission is a powerful force in cultural evolution, i.e., that cultural evolution can change its own dynamics
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| 3. |
- Acerbi, Alberto, et al.
(författare)
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Modeling imitation and emulation in constrained search spaces
- 2011
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Ingår i: Animal Learning and Behavior. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0090-4996 .- 1532-5830 .- 1543-4494 .- 1543-4508. ; 39:2, s. 104-114
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Social transmission of behavior can be realized through distinct mechanisms. Research on primate social learning typically distinguishes two forms of information that a learner can extract from a demonstrator: copying actions (defined as imitation) or copying only the consequential results (defined as emulation). We propose a decomposition of these learning mechanisms (plus pure individual learning) that incorporates the core idea that social learning can be represented as a search for an optimal behavior that is constrained by different kinds of information. We illustrate our approach with an individual-based model in which individuals solve tasks in abstract “spaces” that represent behavioral actions, results, and benefits of those results. Depending on the learning mechanisms at their disposal, individuals have differential access to the information conveyed in these spaces. We show how different classes of tasks may provide distinct advantages to individuals with different learning mechanisms and discuss how our approach contributes to current empirical and theoretical research on social learning and culture.
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| 4. |
- Acerbi, Alberto, et al.
(författare)
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Old and Young Individuals' Role in Cultural Change
- 2012
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Ingår i: JASSS. - : Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation. - 1460-7425. ; 15:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We explore the impact of age on cultural change through simulations of cultural evolution. Our simulations show that common observations about the relationship between old and young naturally emerge from repeated cultural learning. In particular, young individuals are more open to learn than older individuals, they are less effective as cultural models, and they possess less cultural traits. We also show that, being more open to learning, young individuals are an important source of cultural change. Cultural change, however, is faster in populations with both young and old. A relatively large share of older individuals, in fact, allows a population to retain more culture, and a large culture can change in more directions than a small culture. For the same reason, considering age-biased cultural transmission in an overlapping generations model, cultural evolution is slower when individuals interact preferentially with models of similar age than when they mainly interact with older models.
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| 5. |
- Acerbi, Alberto, et al.
(författare)
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Predation and the phasing of sleep : an evolutionary individual-based model
- 2011
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Ingår i: Animal Behaviour. - : Elsevier BV. - 0003-3472 .- 1095-8282. ; 81:4, s. 801-811
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- All mammals thus far studied sleep, yet important questions remain concerning the ecological factors that influence sleep patterns. Here, we developed an evolutionary individual-based model to investigate the effect of predation pressure on prey sleep. We investigated three ecological conditions, including one that assumed a dynamic interaction between predator and prey behaviour. In condition 1, we found that monophasic predators (i.e. with one sleep bout per 24 h) select for monophasic prey that sleep perfectly out of phase with predators. In condition 2, predators were monophasic but the safety of prey varied as a function of their activity (sleeping versus awake). In this condition, the prey adjusted their sleeping behaviour to lower the risk of predation. Finally, in condition 3, we modelled a more dynamic interaction between predator and prey, with predator activity dependent on prey activity in the previous hour. In this scenario, the prey adjusted their behaviour relative to one another, resulting in either greater or lesser synchrony in prey as a function of predator searching behaviour. Collectively, our model demonstrates that predator behaviour can have a strong influence on prey sleep patterns, including whether prey are monophasic or polyphasic (i.e. with many sleep bouts per 24 h). The model further suggests that the timing of sleep relative to predator behaviour may depend strongly on how other potential prey partition the activity period.
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| 6. |
- Acerbi, Alberto, et al.
(författare)
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Regulatory traits : Cultural influences on cultural evolution
- 2014
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Ingår i: Evolution, Complexity and Artificial Life. - Berlin, Heidelberg : Springer Berlin/Heidelberg. - 9783642375767 - 9783642375774 ; , s. 135-147
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We use the term regulatory traits to indicate traits that both regulate cultural transmission (e.g., from whom to learn) and are themselves culturally transmitted. In the first part of this contribution we study the dynamics of some of these traits through simple mathematical models. In particular, we consider the cultural evolution of traits that determine the propensity to copy others, the ability to influence others, the number of individuals from whom one may copy, and the number of individuals one tries to influence. We then show how to extend these simple models to address more complex human cultural phenomena, such as ingroup biases, the emergence of open or conservative societies, and of cyclical, fashion-like, increases and decreases of popularity of cultural traits. We finally discuss how the ubiquity of regulatory traits in cultural evolution impacts on the analogy between genetic and cultural evolution and therefore on the possibility of using models inspired by evolutionary biology to study human cultural dynamics.
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| 7. |
- Acerbi, Alberto, et al.
(författare)
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Regulatory Traits in Cultural Evolution
- 2012
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Ingår i: Proceedings of WiVACE 2012. ; , s. 1-9
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- We call "regulatory traits" those cultural traits that are transmitted through cultural interactions and, at the same time, change individual behaviors directly influencing the outcome of future cultural interactions. The cultural dynamics of some of those traits are studied through simple simulations. In particular, we consider the cultural evolution of traits determining the propensity to copy, the number of potential demonstrators from whom one individual may copy, and conformist versus anti conformist attitudes. Our results show that regulatory traits generate peculiar dynamics that may explain complex human cultural phenomena. We discuss how the existence and importance of regulatory traits in cultural evolution impact on the analogy between genetic and cultural evolution and therefore on the possibility of using evolutionary biology inspired models to study human cultural dynamics.
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| 8. |
- Acerbi, Alberto, et al.
(författare)
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The Expression of Emotions in 20th Century Books
- 2013
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 8:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report here trends in the usage of mood words, that is, words carrying emotional content, in 20th century English language books, using the data set provided by Google that includes word frequencies in roughly 4% of all books published up to the year 2008. We find evidence for distinct historical periods of positive and negative moods, underlain by a general decrease in the use of emotion-related words through time. Finally, we show that, in books, American English has become decidedly more emotional than British English in the last half-century, as a part of a more general increase of the stylistic divergence between the two variants of English language.
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| 9. |
- Acerbi, Alberto, et al.
(författare)
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The logic of fashion cycles
- 2012
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 7:3, s. e32541-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Many cultural traits exhibit volatile dynamics, commonly dubbed fashions or fads. Here we show that realistic fashion-like dynamics emerge spontaneously if individuals can copy others' preferences for cultural traits as well as traits themselves. We demonstrate this dynamics in simple mathematical models of the diffusion, and subsequent abandonment, of a single cultural trait which individuals may or may not prefer. We then simulate the coevolution between many cultural traits and the associated preferences, reproducing power-law frequency distributions of cultural traits (most traits are adopted by few individuals for a short time, and very few by many for a long time), as well as correlations between the rate of increase and the rate of decrease of traits (traits that increase rapidly in popularity are also abandoned quickly and vice versa). We also establish that alternative theories, that fashions result from individuals signaling their social status, or from individuals randomly copying each other, do not satisfactorily reproduce these empirical observations.
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| 10. |
- Ghirlanda, Stefano, et al.
(författare)
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Dog Movie Stars and Dog Breed Popularity : A Case Study in Media Influence on Choice
- 2014
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 9:9, s. e106565-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Fashions and fads are important phenomena that influence many individual choices. They are ubiquitous in human societies, and have recently been used as a source of data to test models of cultural dynamics. Although a few statistical regularities have been observed in fashion cycles, their empirical characterization is still incomplete. Here we consider the impact of mass media on popular culture, showing that the release of movies featuring dogs is often associated with an increase in the popularity of featured breeds, for up to 10 years after movie release. We also find that a movie's impact on breed popularity correlates with the estimated number of viewers during the movie's opening weekend-a proxy of the movie's reach among the general public. Movies' influence on breed popularity was strongest in the early 20th century, and has declined since. We reach these conclusions through a new, widely applicable method to measure the cultural impact of events, capable of disentangling the event's effect from ongoing cultural trends.
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| 11. |
- Ghirlanda, Stefano, et al.
(författare)
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Fashion vs. Function in Cultural Evolution : The Case of Dog Breed Popularity
- 2013
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 8:9, s. e74770-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We investigate the relationship between characteristics of dog breeds and their popularity between years 1926 and 2005. We consider breed health, longevity, and behavioral qualities such as aggressiveness, trainability, and fearfulness. We show that a breed's overall popularity, fluctuations in popularity, and rates of increase and decrease around popularity peaks show typically no correlation with these breed characteristics. One exception is the finding that more popular breeds tend to suffer from more inherited disorders. Our results support the hypothesis that dog breed popularity has been primarily determined by fashion rather than function.
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| 12. |
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| 13. |
- Jansson, Fredrik, et al.
(författare)
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Modelling cultural systems and selective filters
- 2024
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A specific goal of the field of cultural evolution is to understand how processes of transmission and selection at the individual level lead to population-wide patterns of cultural diversity and change. Models of cultural evolution have typically assumed that traits are independent of one another and essentially exchangeable. But culture has a structure: traits bear relationships to one another that affect the transmission and selection process itself. Here we introduce a modelling framework to explore the effect of cultural structure on the process of learning. Through simulations, we find that introducing this simple structure changes the cultural dynamics. Based on a basic filtering mechanism for parsing these relationships, more elaborate cultural filters emerge. In a mostly incompatible cultural domain of traits, these filters organise culture into mostly (but not fully) consistent and stable systems. Incompatible domains produce small homogeneous cultures, while more compatibility increases size, diversity, and group divergence. When individuals copy based on a trait's features (here, its compatibility relationships) they produce more homogeneous cultures than when they copy based on the agent carrying the cultural trait. We discuss the implications of considering cultural systems and filters in the dynamics of cultural change.
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| 14. |
- Jansson, Fredrik, et al.
(författare)
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Modelling cultural systems and selective filters
- 2021
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Ingår i: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8436 .- 1471-2970. ; 376:1828
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A specific goal of the field of cultural evolution is to understand how processes of transmission and selection at the individual level lead to population-wide patterns of cultural diversity and change. Models of cultural evolution have typically assumed that traits are independent of one another and essentially exchangeable. But culture has a structure: traits bear relationships to one another that affect the transmission and selection process itself. Here we introduce a modelling framework to explore the effect of cultural structure on the process of learning. Through simulations, we find that introducing this simple structure changes the cultural dynamics. Based on a basic filtering mechanism for parsing these relationships, more elaborate cultural filters emerge. In a mostly incompatible cultural domain of traits, these filters organise culture into mostly (but not fully) consistent and stable systems. Incompatible domains produce small homogeneous cultures, while more compatibility increases size, diversity, and group divergence. When individuals copy based on a trait's features (here, its compatibility relationships) they produce more homogeneous cultures than when they copy based on the agent carrying the cultural trait. We discuss the implications of considering cultural systems and filters in the dynamics of cultural change.
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| 15. |
- Jansson, Fredrik, et al.
(författare)
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Modelling Cultural Systems and Selective Filters
- 2022
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- IntroductionCultural traits are embedded in webs of relations and sequentially acquired and evaluated – filtered – in light of previously acquired traits. Incorporating multiple traits and their relations is needed to understand the organisation, dynamics, and emergent products of cultural evolution.ApproachWe introduce a modelling framework of individual filtering of interdependent traits and explore the effects on cultural transmission and emergent phenomena, through mathematical treatment and simulations.FindingsSequential acquisition of compatible traits leads to culturally evolved filters. These organise culture into mostly consistent and stable systems. Depending on the structure of trait relations, they modulate rates of cultural change, exhibit path dependence and punctuated equilibria, and can generate convergent transmission, clustering and polarisation.DiscussionA systems view of culture can give a fuller understanding of the source and character of emergent phenomena. It increases the scope of cultural evolution, whereby faithful transmission, self-organisation and filters can be accounted for by systems dynamics without strong assumptions on innate machinery.
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