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Updated: Nov 13, 2025

The Innovation Arena: A Method for Comparing Innovative Problem-Solving Across Groups

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Published on: May 13, 2022

Human biases limit cumulative innovation.

Bill Thompson¹, Thomas L Griffiths¹

¹Departments of Psychology and Computer Science, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.

Proceedings. Biological Sciences

|March 15, 2021

Summary

Human cognitive biases systematically limit cumulative innovation by constraining knowledge transmission. This research shows biases lead to worse technological solutions when environments misalign with them.

Keywords:

Bayesian cultural evolution function learning inductive bias innovation optimization

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Science
Evolutionary Psychology
Behavioral Economics

Background:

Societies build upon inherited discoveries for cumulative innovation.
Human learning and memory biases may impede knowledge transmission and limit progress.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if human cognitive biases constrain technological advancement.
To examine the impact of biases on cumulative innovation in a controlled setting.

Main Methods:

A large-scale behavioral study (n=1250) using a transmission chain design.
Participants searched for virtual technologies in varied environments after inheriting solutions.
Mathematical modeling of cumulative innovation in Bayesian agents.

Main Results:

Cumulative innovation was systematically constrained by human biases.
Participants found worse solutions in environments misaligned with their inherent biases.
Experimental evidence confirmed bias limitation on knowledge advancement.

Conclusions:

Human cognitive biases can significantly limit the advancement of knowledge.
Findings highlight formal links between cultural evolution and distributed optimization.
Reinforces concerns about bias in creative, scientific, and educational fields.