Chapter 3

Question 1

where does cultural variation come from?

Answer 1

• Ecological and geographical variation: ecology can influence culture (ex. Hunting traditions; gender roles in harsher environments → manhood valued more)
• Evoked culture: biologically encoded behavioural repertoires that can be engaged in certain environmental conditions, regardless of where they are from (ex. Acting in intimidating way when offspring are threatened, preferring physically attractive mates)
• Transmitted culture: learning about cultural practices through social learning/modelling (ex. Learning to plant wheat seeds because you see your neighbour doing it)

Question 2

parallels between biological and cultural evolution

Answer 2

• Natural selection: evolutionary process that occurs when the following conditions are present:
• Individual variability exists among members of a species on certain traits (ex. Some antelopes can run faster than others)
• Those traits are associated with different reproductive rates (ex. Faster antelopes escape predators and are more likely to reproduce)
• Those traits have a hereditary basis (ex. Offspring of fast antelopes tend to be faster than offspring of slow antelopes)
• Cultural evolution is similar → some ideas are more likely to attract adherents and this become more common in subsequent generations, creating norms

Question 3

differences between biological and cultural evolution

Answer 3

• copying errors more rare and random in biological evolution, but in cultural evolution errors are less rare and happen deliberately (changing cultural ideas to fit needs)
• cultural evolution can be passed horizontally rather than solely vertically like biological
• Cultural ideas do not have to be adaptive to become common

Question 4

factors that cause ideas to spread

Answer 4

• Communicated through language
• Stereotypes (reflect shared ideas that people in one culture have about a specific cultural group)
• Behaviours (our actions influence those we have relationships with)

Question 5

dynamic social impact theory

Answer 5

• individuals come to influence each other based on how often they interact, leading to clusters of like-minded people separated by geography → aka cultures
• • One account of the origin of culture (norms develop among those who communicate with each other regularly)

Question 6

contemporary legends

Answer 6

• aka urban legends → fictional stories told in modern societies as though they are true
• More likely to spread when they evoke a shared emotional reaction among people

Question 7

minimally counterintuitive ideas

Answer 7

• statements that surprise us a bit and are slightly unusual; stay in our memories easier
• • If tested right away, people best remember stories that are intuitive and remember maximally counter-intuitive ones least; if tested later, intuitive ones with minimally counter-intuitive elements are best remembered.

Question 8

how have cultures been changing?

Answer 8

• becoming more interconnected
• becoming more individualistic
• becoming more intelligent

Question 9

changing cultures: becoming more interconnected

Answer 9

• Becoming increasingly interconnected (due to technological advances) → people around the world are exposed to many of the same cultural products/ideas
• • Trend towards homogeneity at global level and heterogeneity at local level (ex. Quebec separatist movement)

Question 10

changing cultures: becoming more individualistic

Answer 10

• encouraging practices that place their own goals ahead of those in the collective, ex. moving out of parents’ homes → increasing use of words emphasizing self over others, or individualism (ex. unique) rather than obligation to others (ex. obedience), rise of money/materialism
• • Collectivistic cultures include practices that emphasize goals of your ingroup (ex. Extended families living together)
• • Putnam has suggested this is due to increasing pressures of time and money, suburbanization (spending more time alone commuting), electronic entertainment, different lifestyles between younger and older generations (main reason)

Question 11

changing cultures: becoming more intelligent

Answer 11

• People in many cultures are becoming more intelligent (IQ scores are higher today than in previous generations → “Flynn effect”)
• • Particularly true for the Raven’s Matrices IQ test (“culture-free” measure of IQ)
• • Perhaps because nutrition/health has improved worldwide, which helps devleop minds; perhaps because world is now much more complex, so we need to learn a lot more in order to navigate it; perhaps due to pop culture’s increasing complexity (ex. Keeping track of every character’s storyline on TV)

Question 12

how do cultures persists

Answer 12

• Example: Subjective well-being: how satisfied one is with one’s life –> ex. Scandinavians typically have highest levels of well-being, and these levels of well-being persist even after immigrating to America
• Cultural innovations build on previous structures: thread of cultural innovation exists, with new aspects of culture evolving out of ones of the past –> This extends to beliefs/prejudices too (ex. Antisemitism in plague era and holocaust)
• Early conditions have disproportionate influence on cultural evolution
• pluralistic ignorance is a force for cultural persistence

Question 13

persisting cultures: early conditions

Answer 13

• Early conditions are critical in shaping a culture’s long-term evolution; each culture’s distinctive origins preserve many cultural differences across time
• Example: Autokinetic effect: people in dark room asked to judge how much light moves (it’s attached to wall and doesn’t actually movie); confederate reports it moves 16 inches, and subsequent people report it moving more → microculture has been created that is based on initial person

Question 14

persisting cultures: pluralistic ignorance

Answer 14

pluralistic ignorance is the tendency for people to collectively misinterpret the thoughts that underlie other people’s’ behaviours (ex. Feeling like everyone enjoys drinking at campus parties when in reality some people don’t, but just don’t say anything because it would be socially undesirable to do so → leads others to create a false impression) → we’re influenced by what we believe people feel rather than by what they actually feel → allows cultural practices to persist even if the majority of people don’t actually agree with them (ex. Prohibition)