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Cultural Inheritance of Cultural Learning

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New Thinking: Advances in the Study of Human Cognitive Evolution
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It is widely acknowledged that the cumulative cultural inheritance of technological skills and social practices has played a major role in shaping the ways of life of modern humans.
The term 'cultural learning' refers to the psychological processes that make cultural inheritance possible. Curiously, even those researchers who have been most influential in demonstrating the importance of cultural inheritance emphasise that cultural learning depends on gene-based psychological adaptations. Like Evolutionary Psychologists, they assume that cultural learning is made possible by genetically-evolved, human-specific and domain-specific cognitive processes. I will suggest that these assumptions are not supported by recent research on social learning and imitation, social decision-making, and social motivation. This research raises the possibility that many processes of cultural learning are themselves culturally inherited. It may not only be the grist but also the mills of cultural inheritance that are acquired through social interaction in the course of ontogeny. Presented by Cecilia Heyes (All Souls College, University of Oxford, UK).

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New Thinking: Advances in the Study of Human Cognitive Evolution

Welcome and Introduction

Introduction to the "New Thinking: Advances in the Study of Human Cognitive Evolution" conference.
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New Thinking: Advances in the Study of Human Cognitive Evolution

The Mystery of Cumulative Culture

Human demographic and ecological success is frequently attributed to our capacity for cumulative culture, which allows human knowledge and technology to build up and improve over time.
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Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/

Episode Information

Series
New Thinking: Advances in the Study of Human Cognitive Evolution
People
Cecilia Heyes
Keywords
anthropology
evolution
cognitve
human
Social Sciences
Department: Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology
Date Added: 22/08/2011
Duration: 00:54:38

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