In the human sciences, cultural evolution is often viewed as an autonomous process free of genetic influence. A question that follows is, If culture is not influenced by genes, can it take any path? Employing a simple mathematical model of cultural transmission in which individuals may copy each other’s traits, we show that cultural evolution favors individuals who are weakly influenced by othe...

In the human sciences, cultural evolution is often viewed as an autonomous process essentially free of genetic influence. A question that follows is, If culture is not influenced by genes, can it take any path? Employing a simple mathematical model of cultural transmission in which individuals may copy each other’s traits, it can be shown that cultural evolution favors individuals who are weakl...

This article presents an expanded model of acculturation among international migrants and their immediate descendants. Acculturation is proposed as a multidimensional process consisting of the confluence among heritage-cultural and receiving-cultural practices, values, and identifications. The implications of this reconceptualization for the acculturation construct, as well as for its relations...

Population learning can be described as the iterative Darwinian process of fitness-based selection and genetic transfer of information leading to populations of higher fitness and is often simulated using genetic algorithms. Cultural learning describes the process of information transfer between individuals in a population through non-genetic means. Cultural learning has been simulated by combi...

This research argues that variations in the interplay between cultural assimilation and cultural diffusion have played a significant role in giving rise to differential patterns of economic development across the globe. Societies that were geographically less vulnerable to cultural diffusion, benefited from enhanced assimilation, lower cultural diversity and, thus, more intense accumulation of ...