Conditions under which faithful cultural transmission through teaching promotes cumulative cultural evolution.

ABSTRACT: It has been argued that teaching promotes the accurate transmission of cultural traits and eventually leads to cumulative cultural evolution (CCE). However, previous studies have questioned this argument. In this study, we modified the action sequences model into a network exploring model with reinforcement learning to examine the conditions under which teaching promotes CCE. Our model incorporates a time trade-off between innovation and teaching. Simulations revealed that the positive influence of teaching on CCE depends on task difficulty. When the task was too difficult and advanced, such that it could not be accomplished through individual learning within a limited time, spending more time on teaching-even at the expense of time for innovation-contributed to CCE. On the contrary, the e

SUBMITTER: Nakata S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10684533 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature