Culture Flashcards
What is one animal that exhibits cultural behavior, and what is this behavior?
Sweet-potato washing by Japanese monkeys on Koshima island
What is another example of cultural behavior in animals?
New Caledonian crows make different kinds of tools in different parts of the island
What are the three aspects of culture
behaviors are transmitted through some form of social learning (not genetically)
behaviors are shared by many members of a group (and often vary between groups)
behaviors are shared by many members of a group (and often vary between groups)
What are three ways of identifying animal culture
The “ethnographic method”
Experimental approaches
(Social) network-based diffusion analysis (NBDA)
what is the “ethnographic method”
Documents regional variation in behavior(s) across different populations of the same species
Can we discount a purely genetic or a purely ecological basis for the observed differences? If yes, then by the ”method of exclusion” we may conclude that the differences are cultural.
What are experimental cultural approaches
Translocation experiments (what happens when individuals/groups are exchanged between locations?)
Cultural learning and diffusion experiments (do individuals need social input, and can behavioral variants spread via social learning?)
What is (Social) network-based diffusion analysis (NBDA)