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Cited by 365Language and cultural evolutionEvolutionary Psychology and Human BehaviorChild and Animal Learning Development

What is cumulative cultural evolution?

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Mesoudi, Alex, Thornton, Alex·2018·Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
DOI 10.1098/rspb.2018.0712PMC PMC6015846
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Abstract

In recent years, the phenomenon of cumulative cultural evolution (CCE) has become the focus of major research interest in biology, psychology and anthropology. Some researchers argue that CCE is unique to humans and underlies our extraordinary evolutionary success as a species. Others claim to have found CCE in non-human species. Yet others remain sceptical that CCE is even important for explaining human behavioural diversity and complexity. These debates are hampered by multiple and often ambiguous definitions of CCE. Here, we review how researchers define, use and test CCE. We identify a core set of criteria for CCE which are both necessary and sufficient, and may be found in non-human species. We also identify a set of extended criteria that are observed in human CCE but not, to date, in other species. Different socio-cognitive mechanisms may underlie these different criteria. We reinterpret previous theoretical models and observational and experimental studies of both human and non-human species in light of these more fine-grained criteria. Finally, we discuss key issues surrounding information, fitness and cognition. We recommend that researchers are more explicit about what components of CCE they are testing and claiming to demonstrate.

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  • The effectiveness of cultural accumulation can be attributed to the flexibility with which participants engage in social learning and independent discovery.

    “Its effectiveness can be attributed to the flexibility with which participants engage in these two mechanisms [Enquist et al., 2008, Rendell et al., 2010, Mesoudi and Thornton, 2018].”

    From Artificial Generational Intelligence: Cultural Accumulation in Reinforcement Learning (2024) · cites this paper as Mesoudi and Thornton, 2018

    The Core criteria section (page unavailable) describes behavioural innovation, typically through asocial learning, followed by social transmission as a route to cumulative improvement. It does not attribute the effectiveness of cultural accumulation to participants’ flexibility in choosing between social learning and independent discovery. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • 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 Mesoudi and Thornton 2018

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Authors
Mesoudi, A., & Thornton, A.
Affiliations
University of Exeter (GB)
Corresponding author
Mesoudi, Alex
ORCID
Venue
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Publisher
The Royal Society
Published
2018-06-13
Volume
285
Issue
1880
Pages
20180712
ISSN
  • 0080-4649 (ISSN-L)
  • 0962-8452
  • 1471-2954
DOI
10.1098/rspb.2018.0712
PMC
PMC6015846
OpenAlex
W2808453012
Cited by
365
References
2
Citations by year
2026: 30 · 2025: 38 · 2024: 48 · 2023: 47 · 2022: 61 · 2021: 47 · 2020: 60 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 4
FWCI
25.94
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Open Research Exeter (University of Exeter) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
Economic and Social Research Council (ES/M006042/1)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Language and cultural evolution
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
Keywords
cumulative cultural evolution, information transmission, fitness, cognition, evolutionary success
MeSH terms
Animals, Cultural Evolution, Humans, Invertebrates, Models, Biological, Terminology as Topic, Vertebrates

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