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Identification of the social and cognitive processes underlying human cumulative culture

Dean, L.G.; Kendal, R.L.; Schapiro, S.J.; Thierry, B.; Laland, K.N.

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Authors

L.G. Dean

S.J. Schapiro

B. Thierry

K.N. Laland



Abstract

The remarkable ecological and demographic success of humanity is largely attributed to our capacity for cumulative culture, with knowledge and technology accumulating over time, yet the social and cognitive capabilities that have enabled cumulative culture remain unclear. In a comparative study of sequential problem solving, we provided groups of capuchin monkeys, chimpanzees, and children with an experimental puzzlebox that could be solved in three stages to retrieve rewards of increasing desirability. The success of the children, but not of the chimpanzees or capuchins, in reaching higher-level solutions was strongly associated with a package of sociocognitive processes—including teaching through verbal instruction, imitation, and prosociality—that were observed only in the children and covaried with performance.

Citation

Dean, L., Kendal, R., Schapiro, S., Thierry, B., & Laland, K. (2012). Identification of the social and cognitive processes underlying human cumulative culture. Science, 335(6072), 1114-1118. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1213969

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Mar 1, 2012
Deposit Date Jan 30, 2012
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Science
Print ISSN 0036-8075
Electronic ISSN 1095-9203
Publisher American Association for the Advancement of Science
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 335
Issue 6072
Pages 1114-1118
DOI https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1213969

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Copyright Statement
This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of the AAAS for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Science {335, 2012}, doi:10.1126/science.1213969






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