Prestige and content biases together shape the cultural transmission of narratives
Cultural transmission biases such as prestige are thought to have been a primary driver in shaping the dynamics of human cultural evolution. However, few empirical studies have measured the importance of prestige relative to other effects, such as content biases present within the information being...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Evolutionary Human Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2513843X21000372/type/journal_article |
| _version_ | 1811156415765544960 |
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| author | Richard E.W. Berl Alarna N. Samarasinghe Seán G. Roberts Fiona M. Jordan Michael C. Gavin |
| author_facet | Richard E.W. Berl Alarna N. Samarasinghe Seán G. Roberts Fiona M. Jordan Michael C. Gavin |
| author_sort | Richard E.W. Berl |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Cultural transmission biases such as prestige are thought to have been a primary driver in shaping the dynamics of human cultural evolution. However, few empirical studies have measured the importance of prestige relative to other effects, such as content biases present within the information being transmitted. Here, we report the findings of an experimental transmission study designed to compare the simultaneous effects of a model using a high- or low-prestige regional accent with the presence of narrative content containing social, survival, emotional, moral, rational, or counterintuitive information in the form of a creation story. Results from multimodel inference reveal that prestige is a significant factor in determining the salience and recall of information, but that several content biases, specifically social, survival, negative emotional, and biological counterintuitive information, are significantly more influential. Further, we find evidence that reliance on prestige cues may serve as a conditional learning strategy when no content cues are available. Our results demonstrate that content biases serve a vital and underappreciated role in cultural transmission and cultural evolution. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T04:50:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-14e3166f64894d43829cc8580ff16ae6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2513-843X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T04:50:06Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Evolutionary Human Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-14e3166f64894d43829cc8580ff16ae62023-03-09T12:32:19ZengCambridge University PressEvolutionary Human Sciences2513-843X2021-01-01310.1017/ehs.2021.37Prestige and content biases together shape the cultural transmission of narrativesRichard E.W. Berl0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4154-1319Alarna N. Samarasinghe1Seán G. Roberts2Fiona M. Jordan3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9953-8884Michael C. Gavin4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2169-4668Department of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1480, USADepartment of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Bristol, Bristol, United KingdomDepartment of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom School of English, Communication and Philosophy, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United KingdomDepartment of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, GermanyDepartment of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1480, USA Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, GermanyCultural transmission biases such as prestige are thought to have been a primary driver in shaping the dynamics of human cultural evolution. However, few empirical studies have measured the importance of prestige relative to other effects, such as content biases present within the information being transmitted. Here, we report the findings of an experimental transmission study designed to compare the simultaneous effects of a model using a high- or low-prestige regional accent with the presence of narrative content containing social, survival, emotional, moral, rational, or counterintuitive information in the form of a creation story. Results from multimodel inference reveal that prestige is a significant factor in determining the salience and recall of information, but that several content biases, specifically social, survival, negative emotional, and biological counterintuitive information, are significantly more influential. Further, we find evidence that reliance on prestige cues may serve as a conditional learning strategy when no content cues are available. Our results demonstrate that content biases serve a vital and underappreciated role in cultural transmission and cultural evolution.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2513843X21000372/type/journal_articlecultural transmissionprestigetransmission biasescognitionsociolinguisticsstorytelling |
| spellingShingle | Richard E.W. Berl Alarna N. Samarasinghe Seán G. Roberts Fiona M. Jordan Michael C. Gavin Prestige and content biases together shape the cultural transmission of narratives Evolutionary Human Sciences cultural transmission prestige transmission biases cognition sociolinguistics storytelling |
| title | Prestige and content biases together shape the cultural transmission of narratives |
| title_full | Prestige and content biases together shape the cultural transmission of narratives |
| title_fullStr | Prestige and content biases together shape the cultural transmission of narratives |
| title_full_unstemmed | Prestige and content biases together shape the cultural transmission of narratives |
| title_short | Prestige and content biases together shape the cultural transmission of narratives |
| title_sort | prestige and content biases together shape the cultural transmission of narratives |
| topic | cultural transmission prestige transmission biases cognition sociolinguistics storytelling |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2513843X21000372/type/journal_article |
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