Cultural diffusion dynamics depend on behavioural production rules

Area of Science:

• Evolutionary Anthropology
• Computational Social Science
• Behavioral Economics

Background:

• Culture arises from social transmission (acquisition) and individual creation (production) of behaviors.
• Existing models often treat acquisition and production as interchangeable, neglecting their interaction's impact on cultural diffusion.
• The interplay between learning new behaviors and modifying existing ones is crucial for understanding cultural dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a generative model integrating behavioral acquisition and production to explore their interaction in cultural diffusion.
• To investigate how variations in individual production rules influence the dynamics of behavior spread through social networks.
• To assess the impact of linking acquisition and production on the performance of common social learning inference models.

Main Methods:

• Developed a generative model where agents learn from their own productions and adjust behavior repertoires.
• Simulated the diffusion of a novel behavior through social networks using the integrated model.
• Analyzed how individual-level production rules affect population-level diffusion patterns.
• Evaluated the influence of the acquisition-production link on network-based diffusion analysis and experience-weighted attraction models.

Main Results:

• Individual behavioral production rules significantly influence population-level cultural diffusion dynamics.
• The frequency of acquired behaviors impacts learning and subsequent production.
• Linking acquisition and production processes affects the accuracy and application of social learning inference models.
• Reinforcement learning plays a critical, often overlooked, role in cultural transmission.

Conclusions:

• The interaction between acquiring and producing behaviors is a key determinant of cultural diffusion patterns.
• Understanding individual production rules is essential for accurate modeling of social learning and cultural evolution.
• This integrated approach clarifies distinctions between social learning and social influence, highlighting reinforcement learning's role.