EAGER: Linking Pattern and Process in Cultural Evolution

这项研究旨在帮助理解人类社会群体内部和之间的文化多样性的起源。研究人员将开发一个基于代理的模拟模型，以捕捉影响文化进化过程的人口和文化动态。该模型将用于对人口和文化因素对文化多样性的各种相互影响进行探索性分析。分析的重点将是个人之间信息传递的不同途径（如从父母到子女或从同龄人到同龄人）是否会导致不同的多样性模式。分析的目的有两个：第一，就文化传播的不同途径在形成文化多样性方面的作用提出一般性的理论见解;第二，确定是否以及在何种条件下可以根据群体间多样性模式的数据来区分个人之间的不同传播途径。其基本原理是，如果基本过程不能从实验产生的模拟数据中准确地推断出来，那么它们就不太可能从经验数据中准确地推断出来。该项目的研究成果将通过解决文化进化研究中的一个基本理论问题，为社会科学理论做出贡献：在多大程度上，人口层面的文化多样性模式可以可靠地与个人层面的文化传播过程联系起来。该奖项是探索性研究的早期概念补助金（EAGER），因为拟议的建模和分析工作的规模在该领域是前所未有的。一名本科生将协助分析工作，从而在人类学研究的理论方法的应用接受培训。

This research seeks to contribute to understanding the origins of cultural diversity within and between human social groups. The researchers will develop an agent-based simulation model to capture demographic and cultural dynamics that affect the process of cultural evolution. The model will be used to perform an exploratory analysis of the varied and interacting effects of demographic and cultural factors on cultural diversity. The focus of the analysis will be on whether different pathways for the transmission of information between individuals (such as from parents to children or from peer to peer) result in different patterns of diversity. The aim of the analysis is two-fold: first, to generate general theoretical insights about the roles of the different pathways of cultural transmission in shaping cultural diversity; second, to establish whether and under what conditions different pathways of transmission between individuals can be distinguished on the basis of data on the patterns of diversity across groups. The rationale is that if underlying processes cannot be accurately inferred from simulated data generated experimentally it is unlikely that they can be accurately inferred from empirical data. Findings from the project will contribute to social science theory by addressing a fundamental theoretical question in the study of cultural evolution: the degree to which population-level patterns of cultural diversity can be reliably linked to individual-level processes of cultural transmission.The award is an Early-concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) because the scale of the proposed modeling and analytical efforts are unprecedented in this area. One undergraduate student will assist with the analytical effort, thereby receiving training in the application of theoretical approaches to anthropological research.