The DOI matches its Crossref record; 217 of the 217 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Cultural evolutionary theory: How culture evolves and why it matters
Open accessAbstract
Human cultural traits—behaviors, ideas, and technologies that can be learned from other individuals—can exhibit complex patterns of transmission and evolution, and researchers have developed theoretical models, both verbal and mathematical, to facilitate our understanding of these patterns. Many of the first quantitative models of cultural evolution were modified from existing concepts in theoretical population genetics because cultural evolution has many parallels with, as well as clear differences from, genetic evolution. Furthermore, cultural and genetic evolution can interact with one another and influence both transmission and selection. This interaction requires theoretical treatments of gene–culture coevolution and dual inheritance, in addition to purely cultural evolution. In addition, cultural evolutionary theory is a natural component of studies in demography, human ecology, and many other disciplines. Here, we review the core concepts in cultural evolutionary theory as they pertain to the extension of biology through culture, focusing on cultural evolutionary applications in population genetics, ecology, and demography. For each of these disciplines, we review the theoretical literature and highlight relevant empirical studies. We also discuss the societal implications of the study of cultural evolution and of the interactions of humans with one another and with their environment.
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“…evolution includes the individual psychological and genetic factors that allow for information to be transmitted across generations through culture and the products of that evolutionary feedback process (Creanza et al. 2017; Richerson et al. 2010; Mesoudi 2017; Henrich et al. 2008).”
Metadata
- Authors
- Creanza, N., Kolodny, O., & Feldman, M. W.
- Affiliations
- Vanderbilt University (US)
- Stanford University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kolodny, Oren
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2017-07-24
- Volume
- 114
- Issue
- 30
- Pages
- 7782-7789
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC5544263
- OpenAlex
- W2737859984
- Cited by
- 482
- References
- 217
- Citations by year
- 2026: 33 · 2025: 37 · 2024: 93 · 2023: 63 · 2022: 73 · 2021: 82 · 2020: 54 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 6
- FWCI
- 226.07
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- John Templeton Foundation (47981)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Language and cultural evolution
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation
- Keywords
- cultural evolution, cultural transmission, gene-culture coevolution, population genetics, cultural selection, demography, human ecology
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