Chapter #2: Culture & Human Nature Flashcards
What is Prestige Bias?
try to imitate individuals who have skills and are respected by others
Most likely to follow talented individuals
What is Similarity Bias?
demonstrate your group affiliation
choosing whom to imitate, learn from, based on the target’s similarity to themselves
What is Conformist Transmission?
following the majority
a tendency to learn from people who are engaged in behaviors that are more common compared to others
Cultural learning relies on what 3 cognitive abilites:
(1) Mentalizing
(2) Imitative Learning
(3) Emulative Learning
What is Mentalizing?
taking on the perspective of others and considering their intentions
aka Theory of Mind
What is Imitative Learning?
when a learner internalizes the mdoel’s goals and behavior strategies to copy the task
What is Emulative Learning?
when the learner focuses on how the tasks effect the environment, rather than what the model intends to accomplish
How does Language impact learning?
(1) allows ideas to be communicated without having to be visually demonstrated
(2) sharing experiences and goals
What is the Ratchet Effect?
after an initial idea is learned from others, it can be modified and improved upon by others
T/F: Larger groups of people allow for more cultural accumulation
True
presence of larger models ensuer that larger models always have a talented member to copy from
What can be said about the cultural complexity of those living in isolated regions?
- Isolated groups with larger populations have more developed tools/technology
- innovations come from places where like-minded people cluster
What are Cultural Worlds?
worlds that contain cultural ideas that have accumulated over time
What is the Ecephalization Quotient?
the ratio of brain weight of animal divided by the brain weight that is predicted for an animal of comparable size
What is the EQ of Humans vs. Animals?
Humans have an EQ that is 4.5 (which is 4x bigger than primates)
How have human bodies changed to accomodate our larger brains?
- Digestive track shrunk
- With less energy used to digest food, the energy is redirected to the brain
What cultural invention has influenced the development of larger human brains?
Cooking
* the invention of cooking gave us the invention of processing food, making digesting foods easier
What is Gene-Culture Coevolution?
the interaction of culture and genes
* a key factor that distinguishes human evolution
What is the Social Brain Hypothesis?
theory of why brains evolve
socially adept primate who could cooperate, compete, care for kin, and end up surviving
What is the Neocortex Ratio?
the volume of the neocortex divided by the volume of the rest of the brain
those living in larger groups tend to have larger neocortexs
How do Human’s learn through Imitative Learning?
- Internalize models’ goals and behavioral strategies
- Over intimates
- Focus: fulfill the goal of the model
- Requires ToM
- Less efficient
- Cumulative cultural learning
How do Primates learning through Emulative Learning?
- Figure how an object affects environment
- Focus: how the object/tool changes the environment
- Does not requires ToM
- Efficient; problem solving
- Does not allow for cultural cumulative learning
What were the results of the rake study between children and chimps?
- Children used the rake in the teeth down position (Imitative learning)
- Chimps used the rake in the teeith up position (Emulative Learning)
What are the biggest differences in language in human vs. animal culture?
(1) humans communicate with complex/abstract ideas
(2) complex grammar, rich vocabulary
Isolated cultures tend to lag in:
(1) Construct better tools/inventions
(2) Innovate socially
(3) Creat knew knowledge
(4) keep up with the world-knowledge
