Cultural Evolution Psychology 448C 10.1.08. Agenda Lecture and film clip In-class exercise...
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Transcript of Cultural Evolution Psychology 448C 10.1.08. Agenda Lecture and film clip In-class exercise...
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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 individual’s 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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• 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.
Increase in Clustering of Attitudes
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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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• Participants were more likely to pass along stories that elicited strong emotions.
Likelihood of Passing Story Along
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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 Grimm’s 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