1 Psychology 307: Cultural Psychology Lecture 6

2 Reminders 1. The date of the midterm exam has been moved from Thursday, January 27 th to Tuesday, February 1 st. 2. The material that will be assessed on the midterm exam remains unchanged: Chapters 1-4 of the textbook and all material discussed in class since the start of the course.

3 Announcements 1. Will, the TA for students with last names R-Z, will not be available during his regular office hour this week. He has rescheduled his office hour for this afternoon. He will be in his office (Kenny, 3328) today, between 3:30-4: I will hold additional office hours in preparation for the first midterm exam: Thursday, January 27 th : 12:00-1:30 Friday, January 28 th : 3:00-5:00 Monday, January 31 st : 11:30-1:30

4 1.What cognitive skills enable cultural transmission among humans? (continued) 2.What is cultural evolution? Cultural Transmission, Socialization, and Cultural Evolution

5 By the end of today’s class, you should be able to: 1. distinguish between the cognitive skills of human and non-human species. 2. review the stages of Tomasello’s Theory of Cultural Learning. 3. define the terms “cultural evolution” and “the ratchet effect.” 4. distinguish between the epidemiological and cultural learning views of cultural evolution.

6 What cognitive skills enable cultural transmission among humans? (continued) ● Tomasello and his colleagues (1993, 1999, 2003) attribute the complexity of cultural transmission among humans to our unique cognitive skills. ● Specifically, Tomasello et al. argue that, in contrast to other species, humans have “theory of mind”: the ability to understand others’ perspectives.

7 ● Theory of mind emerges in infancy and develops across childhood. ● According to Tomasello’s Theory of Cultural Learning, theory of mind enables humans to engage in unique, species-specific forms of learning. These forms of learning emerge at distinct developmental stages:

8 1. Birth – 9 Months of Age  At 3 to 4 months of age, infants begin to show an interest in objects. However, through to 9 months of age, they do not appear to have theory of mind.  Thus, at this age, infants are restricted to emulation learning.

9 E.g., An infant observes an adult open a jar and learns that “the object can be opened.” With this knowledge, the infant sets out to devise her own strategy for opening the jar.  Emulation learning is the primary means by which nonhuman primates learn about their environments from their conspecifics.

Months – 4 Years of Age  Between 9 and 12 months of age, infants begin to recognize others as intentional agents (i.e., as individuals who have independent intentions, goals, and desires).  Thus, it is at this age that theory of mind begins to emerge.

11  E.g., Tomasello and Haberl (2002) found that 12- and 18-month infants could accurately predict which of several objects was desired by an adult, even though the adult had not explicitly identified the object to the child.

12  Consistent with this change in social cognition, children at this age begin to look where adults look (gaze following) and direct adult attention to objects or events that they are interested in (joint attentional interactions).  Given this change in social cognition, children acquire the ability to engage in a new form of learning—imitative learning.

13 E.g., A 2-year-old child observes an adult open a jar and learns that “the object can be opened if I firmly twist on the lid with my hand.” With this knowledge, the infant turns the lid with her hand and opens the jar.  Thus, imitative learning allows for cultural transmission: Through the observation of models, children learn the goal-directed behavioural strategies or collective practices that are associated with an object. That is, children learn that “this is the way ‘we’ use [the] object; this is the way it ‘should’ be used; this is its ‘function’ for us” (Tomasello & Rakoczy, 2003, p. 127).

– 6 Years of Age  At 4 years of age, children begin to recognize others as mental agents (i.e., as individuals who have independent beliefs, which may or may not be correct).  E.g., Wimmer and Perner (1983) found that 4- to 6-year-old children could accurately predict where another child would look for a toy that had been “secretly” moved as part of a “location change” or “false-belief” task.

15  Consistent with this change in social cognition, children at this age begin to refer to the mental states of other people (e.g., “He thinks that ….”) and engage in deceptive acts with an understanding of the impact that deception has on others’ beliefs.  Given this change in social cognition, children acquire the ability to engage in a new form of learning—instructed learning.

16 E.g., A 5-year-old child receives explicit instructions from his mother with respect to how to behave while dining at a restaurant. The child internalizes the instructions and uses them to regulate his behaviour while dining at a restaurant with his family the following week.  Thus, instructed learning allows for cultural transmission: Through explicit instruction, children learn how to regulate their behaviour in accordance with collective practices when they confront a specific task. That is, children learn that “this is the way ‘we’ behave when we confront this task.”

– 7 Years of Age  At 6 years of age, children begin to recognize others as reflective agents (i.e., as individuals who can reflect upon the beliefs of others).  E.g., Kruger and Tomasello (1986) found that 7- year-old children who were asked to resolve moral dilemmas would engage in discussions with their peers in which they would ask their peers to evaluate their solutions (e.g., “Do you think my idea is good? How do you think the class would react to my idea?”).

18  Consistent with this change in social cognition, children at this age begin to refer to the beliefs that others have about them (e.g., “She thinks that I think that ….”) and simulate the point of view of a “hypothetical other” who is able to evaluate their behaviour (e.g., “Another person would think that I ….”).  Given this change in social cognition, children acquire the ability to engage in a new form of learning—collaborative learning.

19 E.g., A 6-year-old child has dropped her ring between two heavy rocks. After substantial planning and discussion, she and her friend devise a method by which to move one of the rocks: They will break a sturdy branch from a tree and use it to hoist the rock forward.  Thus, in contrast to imitative learning and instructed learning, collaborative learning serves a unique function: It allows for “cultural creation” or cultural construction.

20 What is cultural evolution? ● Cultural evolution refers to the changes that occur to the traditions, practices, and artifacts of a cultural group across time. ● Cultural evolution tends to be cumulative—that is, the changes that occur to traditions, practices, and artifacts tend to accumulate across time, building upon previous modifications.

21 ● The cumulative nature of changes to cultural traditions, practices, and tools among humans is often referred to as the “ratchet effect.” ● Through the ratchet effect, cultural traditions, practices, and tools among humans tend to increase in complexityacross time, often becoming more useful or adaptive. E.g., The evolution of the knife

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23 ● In contrast to biological evolution, cultural evolution is extremely rapid. The rapid nature of cultural evolution may be attributed to the ratchet effect. ● Several theories have been proposed to explain how cultural evolution occurs among humans:

24 1. The Epidemiological View  Maintains that cultural evolution occurs through the modification of ideas as they are passed from one individual to another.  Ideas are modified as they are learned; individuals interpret the ideas that they learn in their own idiosyncratic ways, thereby creating “new” ideas that they subsequently pass on to others.  Thus, ideas are never replicated; rather, learners “recreate” the ideas that they are exposed to.

25 2. The Cultural Learning View  Based on Tomasello’s Theory of Cultural Learning.  Maintains that cultural evolution requires the ability to recognize others as intentional agents.  Recognition of others as intentional agents enables imitative learning. Imitative learning is the only means by which pre-existing behavioural strategies can be accurately learned.

26  Once pre-existing behavioural strategies are accurately learned through imitation, (a) the goals associated with those strategies can be further considered and (b) more adaptive strategies that build upon the original strategies can be developed.  According to this view, imitative learning is the only form of learning that preserves behavioural strategies within a group, thereby allowing those strategies to serve as “a platform for further innovations” (Tomasello, 2001, p. 139).

27 1.What cognitive skills enable cultural transmission among humans? (continued) 2.What is cultural evolution? Cultural Transmission, Socialization, and Cultural Evolution