Optimization problems arise in many real-world applications. Cultural Algorithms are a class of computational models derived from observing the cultural evolution process in nature, compared with genetic algorithm the cultural algorithms have high convergence speed. Aiming at the disadvantages of basic cultural algorithms like being trapped easily into a local optimum, this paper improves the b...

this paper has examined the phenomenon of convergence of per capita out put levels across the ic countries for the 1960-1998 periods. three concepts of convergence, i.e., sigma beta and relative beta, have been used. the estimated beta values reveals only a very weak convergence (?=.0014) across ic for 1960-1998 period. but when a more homogeneous group of countries were selected, the results s...

Singing, rhythmic movement to music, and musical instruments, blown or struck, are pervasive, with a deep history (1). Ethnomusicologists do not dispute the existence of core abilities that support a variety of musical activities across cultures, but they are generally averse to notions of universals involving musical structure or form (2). In their view, the music of every culture is unique, b...

In the Axelrod's model of cultural dissemination, we consider the mobility of cultural agents through the introduction of a density of empty sites and the possibility that agents in a dissimilar neighborhood can move to them if their mean cultural similarity with the neighborhood is below some threshold. While for low values of the density of empty sites, the mobility enhances the convergence t...

Despite tendencies toward convergence, differences between individuals and groups continue to exist in beliefs, attitudes, and behavior. An agent-based adaptive model reveals the effects of a mechanism of convergent social influence. The actors are placed at fixed sites. The basic premise is that the more similar an actor is to a neighbor, the more likely that that actor will adopt one of the n...

This article examines the role that women’s cultures and communities have played in political protest and social change. We argue that women’s cultures, which form around the reproductive roles, labor, and emotional expectations placed on women, have been used to express femininity and as cultural resources or ‘‘toolkits’’ to transform male-dominated spheres of society. We begin by defining wom...

Recent studies have revealed differences between urban and rural vocalizations of numerous bird species. These differences include frequency shifts, amplitude shifts, altered song speed, and selective meme use. If particular memes sung by urban populations are adapted to the urban soundscape, "urban-typical" calls, memes, or repertoires should be consistently used in multiple urban populations ...

in recent decades, the concept of cultural capital has created a lot of scientific studies over the world in the sociology of education. these studies mainly based on the two models: bourdieu's cultural reproduction and dimaggio's cultural mobility. these have achieved different results. this study aimed at evaluating the theoretical models in an empirical condition. middle and high school stud...