"Cultural evolution is an evolutionary theory of social change. It follows from the definition of culture as 'information capable of affecting individuals' behavior that they acquire from other members of their species through teaching, imitation and other forms of social transmission.'"
The processes by which cultural traits and practices spread and change across populations, including the role of social transmission and cultural selection.
Natural Selection: Understanding the basic principles of natural selection and how it applies to cultural evolution.
Mendelian Inheritance: Understanding how certain traits are passed down through generations.
Cultural Transmission: The process by which cultural traits are transmitted through generations.
Cultural Evolutionary Models: Understanding the different models used to explain cultural evolution.
Memetics: The study of how ideas and cultural traits spread through society.
Dual-Inheritance Theory: Understanding the theory that both genetic and cultural inheritance play a role in evolution.
Sociobiology: How evolutionary principles apply to social behavior and organization.
Language Evolution: Tracing the history and development of language.
Human Behavioral Ecology: Understanding how the environment shapes human behavior and culture.
Technological Evolution: How technology has evolved and impacted culture and society.
Human Cultural Diversity: Understanding the diversity of cultures and how they have evolved over time.
Cultural Dynamics: Understanding the factors that lead to cultural change and evolution.
Cultural Adaptation: How cultures adapt to changing environments and circumstances.
Anthropological Linguistics: The study of language in relation to culture and society.
Phylogenetics: The study of evolutionary relationships between species or groups of organisms.
Vertical cultural evolution: Vertical cultural evolution refers to the transmission of cultural traits or practices from one generation to another within the same cultural group. It includes intergenerational transfer of knowledge, skills and beliefs that are passed from parents to children.
Horizontal cultural evolution: Horizontal cultural evolution refers to the transmission of cultural traits or practices between members of the same generation within a cultural group. It includes cultural diffusion or the spread of cultural practices through trade, migration and intercultural communication.
Lamarckian cultural evolution: Lamarckian cultural evolution is based on the idea that acquired characteristics can be passed down to the next generation. In the context of cultural evolution, this means that new cultural practices or traits can emerge in a population as a result of environmental pressures and changes.
Darwinian cultural evolution: Darwinian cultural evolution is based on the concept of natural selection, which suggests that cultural traits or practices that are beneficial for survival and reproduction are more likely to be passed on to the next generation than those that are not.
Memetic cultural evolution: Memetic cultural evolution is based on the idea that cultural traits or practices are analogous to genes, and that they can be transmitted and replicated in a similar way. Memes are units of cultural information that can be replicated and spread through social communication.
Dual inheritance theory: Dual inheritance theory proposes that cultural evolution is driven by two complementary processes: genetic and cultural transmission. The theory suggests that cultural traits can influence the evolution of genetic traits, and vice versa, leading to co-evolution of genes and culture.
Cultural phylogenetics: Cultural phylogenetics is a method used to reconstruct the evolutionary history of cultural traits or practices. It uses comparative methods and statistical analyses to investigate the patterns of cultural evolution and the relationships between different cultural groups.
"Cultural evolution, historically also known as sociocultural evolution, was originally developed in the 19th century by anthropologists stemming from Charles Darwin's research on evolution."
"Today, cultural evolution has become the basis for a growing field of scientific research in the social sciences, including anthropology, economics, psychology, and organizational studies."
"Previously, it was believed that social change resulted from biological adaptations; anthropologists now commonly accept that social changes arise in consequence of a combination of social, evolutionary, and biological influences."
"There have been a number of different approaches to the study of cultural evolution, including dual inheritance theory, sociocultural evolution, memetics, cultural evolutionism, and other variants on cultural selection theory."
"The approaches differ not just in the history of their development and discipline of origin but in how they conceptualize the process of cultural evolution and the assumptions, theories, and methods that they apply to its study."
"In recent years, there has been a convergence of the cluster of related theories towards seeing cultural evolution as a unified discipline in its own right."
"It follows from the definition of culture as 'information capable of affecting individuals' behavior that they acquire from other members of their species through teaching, imitation and other forms of social transmission.'"
"Cultural evolution, historically also known as sociocultural evolution, was originally developed in the 19th century by anthropologists stemming from Charles Darwin's research on evolution."
"Today, cultural evolution has become the basis for a growing field of scientific research in the social sciences, including anthropology, economics, psychology, and organizational studies."
"Anthropologists now commonly accept that social changes arise in consequence of a combination of social, evolutionary, and biological influences."
"The approaches differ not just in the history of their development and discipline of origin but in how they conceptualize the process of cultural evolution and the assumptions, theories, and methods that they apply to its study."
"Cultural evolution, historically also known as sociocultural evolution..."
"Previously, it was believed that social change resulted from biological adaptations..."
"In recent years, there has been a convergence of the cluster of related theories towards seeing cultural evolution as a unified discipline in its own right."
"Culture...information capable of affecting individuals' behavior that they acquire from other members of their species through teaching, imitation and other forms of social transmission."
"Anthropologists...stemming from Charles Darwin's research on evolution."
"The social sciences, including anthropology, economics, psychology, and organizational studies."
"The approaches differ...in how they conceptualize the process of cultural evolution and the assumptions, theories, and methods that they apply to its study."
"There has been a convergence of the cluster of related theories towards seeing cultural evolution as a unified discipline in its own right."