Imitation and Innovation: The Dual Engines of Cultural Learning
Abstract
Imitation and innovation work in tandem to support cultural learning in children and facilitate our capacity for cumulative culture. Here we propose an integrated theoretical account of how the unique demands of acquiring instrumental skills and cultural conventions provide insight into when children imitate, when they innovate, and to what degree. For instrumental learning, with an increase in experience, high fidelity imitation decreases and innovation increases. By contrast, for conventional learning, imitative fidelity stays high, regardless of experience, and innovation stays low. We synthesize cutting edge research on the development of imitative flexibility and innovation to provide insight into the social learning mechanisms underpinning the uniquely human mind.
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Accumulated learning over generations enables the ratchet effect, making cumulative cultural innovations possible.
“The accumulated learning over generations enables the ratchet effect, which makes it possible for humans to develop cumulative cultural innovations in complex toolkits, technologies and social systems that could never be invented by a single human without some degree of socialisation into the system (Legare and Nielsen 2015; Tennie et al. 2009; Mesoudi and Thornton 2018).”
From Cultural Evolution of Religion, Spirituality and Ritual: Impacts On Human Cooperation (2024) · cites this paper as Legare and Nielsen 2015
Cites
Not By Genes Alone: How Culture Transformed Human Evolution
Richerson, P. J., & Boyd, R. (2004) · doi:10.7208/chicago/9780226712130.001.0001 · Cited by 2,793 · cited 1× · see citing works
“As proponents of dual inheritance theory maintain, unless the world is at least somewhat uncertain (or opaque), natural selection would not favor high fidelity imitation [29].”
BackgroundMetabolic costs and evolutionary implications of human brain development
Kuzawa, C. W., Chugani, H. T., Grossman, L. I., Lipovich, L., Muzik, O., Hof, P. R., Wildman, D. E., Sherwood, C. C., Leonard, W. R., & Lange, N. (2014) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1323099111 · Cited by 585 · see citing works
Cooperation and Commune Longevity: A Test of the Costly Signaling Theory of Religion
Sosis, R., & Bressler, E. R. (2003) · Cross-Cultural Research · doi:10.1177/1069397103037002003 · Cited by 569 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Individuals who demonstrate commitment to ingroup values through ritual participation are more likely to be trusted in cooperative endeavors [95].”
BackgroundSosis, R., & Ruffle, B. J. (2003) · Current Anthropology · doi:10.1086/379260 · Cited by 389 · see citing works
Imitation in young children: When who gets copied is more important than what gets copied.
Nielsen, M., & Blank, C. (2011) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0023866 · Cited by 279 · see citing works
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The Psychology of Rituals: An Integrative Review and Process-Based Framework
Hobson, N. M., Schroeder, J., Risen, J. L., Xygalatas, D., & Inzlicht, M. (2018) · Personality and Social Psychology Review · doi:10.1177/1088868317734944 · Cited by 354 · see citing works
Comprehensive longitudinal study challenges the existence of neonatal imitation in humans
Oostenbroek, J., Suddendorf, T., Nielsen, M., Redshaw, J., Kennedy-Costantini, S., Davis, J., Clark, S., & Slaughter, V. (2016) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2016.03.047 · Cited by 262 · see citing works
Self-citationHow language shapes the cultural inheritance of categories
Gelman, S. A., & Roberts, S. O. (2017) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1621073114 · Cited by 200 · see citing works
Cumulative cultural learning: Development and diversity
Legare, C. H. (2017) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1620743114 · Cited by 173 · see citing works
Self-citationNot playing by the rules: Exploratory play, rational action, and efficient search
Chu, J., & Schulz, L. (2020) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/9yra2 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Bluet, A., Reynaud, E., Federico, G., Bryche, C., Lesourd, M., Fournel, A., Lamberton, F., Ibarrola, D., Rossetti, Y., & Osiurak, F. (2025) · iScience · doi:10.1016/j.isci.2025.111870 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Cultural Evolution of Religion, Spirituality and Ritual: Impacts On Human Cooperation
McNamara, R. A. (2024) · KZfSS Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie · doi:10.1007/s11577-024-00937-3 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
“…makes it possible for humans to develop cumulative cultural innovations in complex toolkits, technologies and social systems that could never be invented by a single human without some degree of socialisation into the system (Legare and Nielsen 2015; Tennie et al. 2009; Mesoudi and Thornton 2018).”
- Authors
- Legare, C. H., & Nielsen, M.
- Affiliations
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Legare, Cristine H.
- Venue
- Trends in Cognitive Sciences
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2015-11
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 688-699
- ISSN
- 1364-6613 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1873606094
- Cited by
- 484
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 31 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 36 · 2023: 44 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 61 · 2020: 61 · 2019: 56 · 2018: 45 · 2017: 41 · 2016: 38 · 2015: 5 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 9.05
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Trends in Cognitive Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) (REF RES-060-25-0085)
- Australian Research Council Discovery Project (DP140101410)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Language and cultural evolution
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Robot Interaction and HRI
- Keywords
- imitation, innovation, cultural learning, cumulative culture, operant conditioning, conventional learning, social learning, child development, skill acquisition, cultural norms
- MeSH terms
- Creativity, Culture, Humans, Imitative Behavior, Learning
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