The refinement paradox and cumulative cultural evolution: Complex products of collective improvement favor conformist outcomes, blind copying, and hyper-credulity.

Social learning is common in nature, yet cumulative culture (where knowledge and technology increase in complexity and diversity over time) appears restricted to humans. To understand why, we organized a computer tournament in which programmed entries specified when to learn new knowledge and when to refine (i.e.

Cultural traits operating in senders are driving forces of cultural evolution.

We introduce a mathematical model of cultural evolution to study cultural traits that shape how individuals exchange information. Current theory focuses on traits that influence the reception of information (receiver traits), such as evaluating whether information represents the majority or stems from a trusted source. Our model shifts the focus from the receiver to the sender of cultural information and emphasizes the role of sender traits, such as communicability or persuasiveness.

Sequence representation as an early step in the evolution of language.

Human language is unique in its compositional, open-ended, and sequential form, and its evolution is often solely explained by advantages of communication. However, it has proven challenging to identify an evolutionary trajectory from a world without language to a world with language, especially while at the same time explaining why such an advantageous phenomenon has not evolved in other animals. Decoding sequential information is necessary for language, making domain-general sequence representation a tentative basic requirement for the evolution of language and other uniquely human phenomena.

How associations become behavior.

The Rescorla and Wagner (1972) model is the first mathematical theory to explain associative learning in the presence of multiple stimuli. Its main theoretical construct is that of associative strength, but this is connected to behavior only loosely. We propose a model in which behavior is described by a collection of Poisson processes, each with a rate proportional to an associative strength.

A test of memory for stimulus sequences in great apes.

Identifying cognitive capacities underlying the human evolutionary transition is challenging, and many hypotheses exist for what makes humans capable of, for example, producing and understanding language, preparing meals, and having culture on a grand scale. Instead of describing processes whereby information is processed, recent studies have suggested that there are key differences between humans and other animals in how information is recognized and remembered. Such constraints may act as a bottleneck for subsequent information processing and behavior, proving important for understanding differences between humans and other animals.

Models of conditioned reinforcement and abnormal behaviour in captive animals.

Abnormal behaviours are common in captive animals, and despite a lot of research, the development, maintenance and alleviation of these behaviours are not fully understood. Here, we suggest that conditioned reinforcement can induce sequential dependencies in behaviour that are difficult to infer from direct observation. We develop this hypothesis using recent models of associative learning that include conditioned reinforcement and inborn facets of behaviour, such as predisposed responses and motivational systems.

Modelling cultural systems and selective filters.

A specific goal of the field of cultural evolution is to understand how processes of transmission and selection at the individual level lead to population-wide patterns of cultural diversity and change. Models of cultural evolution have typically assumed that traits are independent of one another and essentially exchangeable. But culture has a structure: traits bear relationships to one another that affect the transmission and selection process itself.

Underappreciated features of cultural evolution.

Cultural evolution theory has long been inspired by evolutionary biology. Conceptual analogies between biological and cultural evolution have led to the adoption of a range of formal theoretical approaches from population dynamics and genetics. However, this has resulted in a research programme with a strong focus on cultural transmission.

A-learning: A new formulation of associative learning theory.

We present a new mathematical formulation of associative learning focused on non-human animals, which we call A-learning. Building on current animal learning theory and machine learning, A-learning is composed of two learning equations, one for stimulus-response values and one for stimulus values (conditioned reinforcement). A third equation implements decision-making by mapping stimulus-response values to response probabilities.

Social learning through associative processes: a computational theory.

Social transmission of information is a key phenomenon in the evolution of behaviour and in the establishment of traditions and culture. The diversity of social learning phenomena has engendered a diverse terminology and numerous ideas about underlying learning mechanisms, at the same time that some researchers have called for a unitary analysis of social learning in terms of associative processes. Leveraging previous attempts and a recent computational formulation of associative learning, we analyse the following learning scenarios in some generality: learning responses to social stimuli, including learning to imitate; learning responses to non-social stimuli; learning sequences of actions; learning to avoid danger.

On the role of responses in Pavlovian acquisition.

A defining feature of Pavlovian conditioning is that the unconditioned stimulus (US) is delivered whether or not the animal performs a conditioned response (CR). This has lead to the question: Does CR performance play any role in conditioning? Between the 1930s and 1970s, a consensus emerged that CR acquisition is driven by CS-US (CS, conditioned stimulus) experiences, and that CRs play a minimal role, if any. Here we revisit the question and present 2 new quantitative methods to evaluate whether CRs influence the course of learning.

Memory for stimulus sequences: a divide between humans and other animals?

Humans stand out among animals for their unique capacities in domains such as language, culture and imitation, yet it has been difficult to identify cognitive elements that are specifically human. Most research has focused on how information is processed after it is acquired, e.g.

Time Does Not Help Orangutans Solve Physical Problems.

Many questions in animal intelligence and cognition research are challenging. One challenge is to identify mechanisms underlying reasoning in experiments. Here, we provide a way to design such tests in non-human animals.

The power of associative learning and the ontogeny of optimal behaviour.

Behaving efficiently (optimally or near-optimally) is central to animals' adaptation to their environment. Much evolutionary biology assumes, implicitly or explicitly, that optimal behavioural strategies are genetically inherited, yet the behaviour of many animals depends crucially on learning. The question of how learning contributes to optimal behaviour is largely open.

A novel method to analyze social transmission in chronologically sequenced assemblages, implemented on cultural inheritance of the art of cooking.

Here we present an analytical technique for the measurement and evaluation of changes in chronologically sequenced assemblages. To illustrate the method, we studied the cultural evolution of European cooking as revealed in seven cook books dispersed over the past 800 years. We investigated if changes in the set of commonly used ingredients were mainly gradual or subject to fashion fluctuations.

Animal memory: A review of delayed matching-to-sample data.

We performed a meta-analysis of over 90 data sets from delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS) studies with 25 species (birds, mammals, and bees). In DMTS, a sample stimulus is first presented and then removed. After a delay, two (or more) comparison stimuli are presented, and the subject is rewarded for choosing the one matching the sample.

Correlations in fertility across generations: can low fertility persist?

Correlations in family size across generations could have a major influence on human population size in the future. Empirical studies have shown that the associations between the fertility of parents and the fertility of children are substantial and growing over time. Despite their potential long-term consequences, intergenerational fertility correlations have largely been ignored by researchers.

Coevolution of intelligence, behavioral repertoire, and lifespan.

Across many taxa, intriguing positive correlations exist between intelligence (measured by proxy as encephalization), behavioral repertoire size, and lifespan. Here we argue, through a simple theoretical model, that such correlations arise from selection pressures for efficient learning of behavior sequences. We define intelligence operationally as the ability to disregard unrewarding behavior sequences, without trying them out, in the search for rewarding sequences.

Dating human cultural capacity using phylogenetic principles.

Humans have genetically based unique abilities making complex culture possible; an assemblage of traits which we term "cultural capacity". The age of this capacity has for long been subject to controversy. We apply phylogenetic principles to date this capacity, integrating evidence from archaeology, genetics, paleoanthropology, and linguistics.

The logic of fashion cycles.

Many cultural traits exhibit volatile dynamics, commonly dubbed fashions or fads. Here we show that realistic fashion-like dynamics emerge spontaneously if individuals can copy others' preferences for cultural traits as well as traits themselves. We demonstrate this dynamics in simple mathematical models of the diffusion, and subsequent abandonment, of a single cultural trait which individuals may or may not prefer.

How copying affects the amount, evenness and persistence of cultural knowledge: insights from the social learning strategies tournament.

Darwinian processes should favour those individuals that deploy the most effective strategies for acquiring information about their environment. We organized a computer-based tournament to investigate which learning strategies would perform well in a changing environment. The most successful strategies relied almost exclusively on social learning (here, learning a behaviour performed by another individual) rather than asocial learning, even when environments were changing rapidly; moreover, successful strategies focused learning effort on periods of environmental change.

Modelling the evolution and diversity of cumulative culture.

Previous work on mathematical models of cultural evolution has mainly focused on the diffusion of simple cultural elements. However, a characteristic feature of human cultural evolution is the seemingly limitless appearance of new and increasingly complex cultural elements. Here, we develop a general modelling framework to study such cumulative processes, in which we assume that the appearance and disappearance of cultural elements are stochastic events that depend on the current state of culture.

Exposure to mother's pregnancy and lactation in infancy is associated with sexual attraction to pregnancy and lactation in adulthood.

Introduction: Several theories, including psychodynamic theories, sexual imprinting and early conditioning have been formulated to explain sexual development. Empirical data, however, remain insufficient for a thorough evaluation of these theories.

Aim: In this study, we test the hypothesis that a critical period exists for the acquisition of sexual preferences, as suggested by empirical findings in birds and mammals (sexual imprinting).

Why copy others? Insights from the social learning strategies tournament.

Social learning (learning through observation or interaction with other individuals) is widespread in nature and is central to the remarkable success of humanity, yet it remains unclear why copying is profitable and how to copy most effectively. To address these questions, we organized a computer tournament in which entrants submitted strategies specifying how to use social learning and its asocial alternative (for example, trial-and-error learning) to acquire adaptive behavior in a complex environment. Most current theory predicts the emergence of mixed strategies that rely on some combination of the two types of learning.