Journal
EVOLUTION AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR
Volume 30, Issue 1, Pages 41-48Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2008.07.005
Keywords
Conformity; Cultural evolution; Cultural transmission; Frequency-dependent copying; Neutral drift; Power law; Random copying
Funding
- Mellon Foundation Fellowship
- British Academy Centenary Research Project
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previous evolutionary analyses of human culture have found that a simple model of random copying, analogous to neutral genetic drift, can generate the distinct power-law frequency distribution of cultural traits that is typical of various real-world cultural datasets, such as first names, patent citations and prehistoric pottery types. Here, we use agent-based simulations to explore the effects of frequency-dependent copying (e.g., conformity and anti-conformity) on this power-law distribution. We find that when traits are actively selected on the basis of their frequency, then the power-law distribution is severely disrupted. Conformity generates a winner-takes-all distribution in which popular traits dominate, while anti-conformity generates a humped distribution in which traits of intermediate frequency are favoured. However, a more passive frequency-dependent trimming, in which traits are selectively ignored on the basis of their frequency, generates reasonable approximations to the power-law distribution. This frequency-dependent trimming may therefore be difficult to distinguish from genuine random copying using population-level data alone. Implications for the study of both human and nonhuman culture are discussed. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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