In this paper I discuss the role and sources of innovation in generating culture, and also the role of modularity in preserving it. I also discuss the extent to which biological selection can underly cultural evolution and the interaction between these. Finally I present two sets of pilot experiments mostly as ‘intuition pumps’ to explore the problem of cultural stability and change. The first ...

The informativeness of different relationships for resolving the genetic and cultural transmission of a continuous variable is explored by computer simulation. Extended twin, extended nuclear-family, and adoption designs are considered. Combining data on twin and parent-offspring pairs provides a powerful means of detecting genetic and cultural transmission. The addition of uncle-nephew and fir...

It is widely recognized that language plays a key role in the transmission of human culture, but relatively little is known about the mechanisms by which language simultaneously encourages both cultural stability and cultural innovation. This paper examines this issue by focusing on the use of language to transmit categories, focusing on two universal devices: labels (e.g., shark, woman) and ge...

The goal of the present study is to supplement inter-cultural comparison of values as a cultural dimension by intra-cultural comparisons, and to go beyond comparisons of single values representing cultural dimensions by studying value patterns on the individual level. Therefore, relationships among general (individualism, collectivism) and domain-specific (familyand child-related) values and th...

Human language is learned, symbolic and exhibits syntactic structure, a set of properties which make it unique among naturally-occurring communication systems. How did human language come to be as it is? Language is culturally transmitted and cultural processes may have played a role in shaping language. However, it has been suggested that the cultural transmission of language is constrained by...

Human behavioral traits are complex phenotypes that result from both genetic and cultural transmission. But different inheritance systems need not favor the same phenotypic outcome. What happens when there are conflicting selection forces in the two domains? To address this question, we derive a Price equation that incorporates both cultural and genetic inheritance of a phenotype where the effe...

Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) is a relatively recent term coined to represent living cultural expressions and practices, which are recognised by communities as distinct aspects of identity. The safeguarding of ICH has become a topic of international concern primarily through the work of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation). However, little research has ...

We use the term regulatory traits to indicate traits that both regulate cultural transmission (e.g., from whom to learn) and are themselves culturally transmitted. In the first part of this contribution we study the dynamics of some of these traits through simple mathematical models. In particular, we consider the cultural evolution of traits that determine the propensity to copy others, the ab...

We develop a model of cultural transmission where television plays a role in socialization. We study the coverage of different cultural traits by a profit maximizing TV industry and the resulting cultural dynamics. Our model predicts that cultural extinction is more likely in a competitive than in a monopolistic TV industry. A monopolist covers both traits but grants more coverage to the most p...