Cultural Evolution: Theory and Models

Abstract

We define culture as those aspects of thought, speech, behavior, and artifacts that can be learned and transmitted socially. Although the cognitive processes that allow cultural transmission may involve the action of genes, transmission of certain types of information may also be purely cultural and may therefore result in evolutionary dynamics different from those of genetic evolution. Cavalli-Sforza and Feldman and Boyd and Richerson developed a quantitative theory for the cultural transmission and evolution of traits within populations. They sought principles that could explain observed levels of variation or estimated rates of change in cultural traits in a manner analogous to, but different from, those that have proven useful in evolutionary biology. Most models of social learning and cultural evolution have used deterministic approaches. These include models analogous to those of formal population genetics, nonspatial evolutionary game theory, reaction–diffusion systems that assume infinite populations, phylogenetic and cladistic methods, interacting particle systems, network-based models, and cultural demographic models. This article reviews deterministic approaches to cultural evolution and agent-based simulations of social learning strategies. The latter have become increasingly popular and useful as computers became faster and cheaper.