scholarly journals Space Partitioning Without Territoriality in Gannets

Science ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 341 (6141) ◽  
pp. 68-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewan D. Wakefield ◽  
Thomas W. Bodey ◽  
Stuart Bearhop ◽  
Jez Blackburn ◽  
Kendrew Colhoun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Information Transfer ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Foraging Habitat ◽  
Space Partitioning ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Eusocial Insects ◽  
Exclusive Territories ◽  
Colonial Breeding

Colonial breeding is widespread among animals. Some, such as eusocial insects, may use agonistic behavior to partition available foraging habitat into mutually exclusive territories; others, such as breeding seabirds, do not. We found that northern gannets, satellite-tracked from 12 neighboring colonies, nonetheless forage in largely mutually exclusive areas and that these colony-specific home ranges are determined by density-dependent competition. This segregation may be enhanced by individual-level public information transfer, leading to cultural evolution and divergence among colonies.

scholarly journals Migration, acculturation, and the maintenance of between-group cultural variation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Mesoudi
Keyword(s):  
Social Learning ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Cultural Variation ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
And Migration ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Social Learning Processes

AbstractHow do migration and acculturation (i.e. psychological or behavioral change resulting from migration) affect within- and between-group cultural variation? Here I answer this question by drawing analogies between genetic and cultural evolution. Population genetic models show that migration rapidly breaks down between-group genetic structure. In cultural evolution, however, migrants or their descendants can acculturate to local behaviors via social learning processes such as conformity, potentially preventing migration from eliminating between-group cultural variation. An analysis of the empirical literature on migration suggests that acculturation is common, with second and subsequent migrant generations shifting, sometimes substantially, towards the cultural values of the adopted society. Yet there is little understanding of the individual-level dynamics that underlie these population-level shifts. To explore this formally, I present models quantifying the effect of migration and acculturation on between-group cultural variation, for both neutral and costly cooperative traits. In the models, between-group cultural variation, measured using F statistics, is eliminated by migration and maintained by conformist acculturation. The extent of acculturation is determined by the strength of conformist bias and the number of demonstrators from whom individuals learn. Acculturation is countered by assortation, the tendency for individuals to preferentially interact with culturally-similar others. Unlike neutral traits, cooperative traits can additionally be maintained by payoff-biased social learning, but only in the presence of strong sanctioning institutions. Overall, the models show that surprisingly little conformist acculturation is required to maintain realistic amounts of between-group cultural diversity. While these models provide insight into the potential dynamics of acculturation and migration in cultural evolution, they also highlight the need for more empirical research into the individual-level learning biases that underlie migrant acculturation.

scholarly journals How culture and biology interact to shape language and the language faculty

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenny Smith
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Biological Evolution ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Evolutionary Models ◽  
Language Faculty ◽  
Repeated Cycle ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Precise Relationship

Recent work suggests that linguistic structure develops through cultural evolution, as a consequence of the repeated cycle of learning and use by which languages persist. This work has important implications for our understanding of the evolution of the cognitive basis for language: in particular, human language and the cognitive capacities underpinning it are likely to have been shaped by co-evolutionary processes, where the cultural evolution of linguistic systems is shaped by and in turn shapes the biological evolution of the capacities underpinning language learning. I review several models of this co-evolutionary process, which suggest that the precise relationship between evolved biases in individuals and the structure of linguistic systems depends on the extent to which cultural evolution masks or unmasks individual-level cognitive biases from selection. I finish by discussing how these co-evolutionary models might be extended to cases where the biases involved in learning are themselves shaped by experience, as is the case for language.

scholarly journals The Impact of Acquisition on Stock Value in Case of Warsaw Stock Exchange

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-79
Author(s):  
Wojciech Kaczmarczyk
Keyword(s):  
Stock Prices ◽  
Information Transfer ◽  
Banking Sector ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Electronic System ◽  
Market Reactions ◽  
Warsaw Stock Exchange ◽  
Market Indexes ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Research purpose: Seven of 10 companies that have won the Polish Forbes edition Merge & Acquisition 2018 Ranking are listed on Warsaw Stock Exchange. The aim of the conducted research was to test if the biggest acquisitions have an impact on stocks value and is it possible for typical investor to create extra profit by using knowledge of acquisition based on public information. Design/Methodology/Approach: Using data from Warsaw Stock Exchange (quotations), typical measures such as rate of return, standard deviation (risk), correlation and transaction volume changes were calculated. Each of the case results obtained for the company was compared with the result for stock market indexes: WIG (Warszawski Indeks Giełdowy – main WSE index), WIG20 (WSE sub-index of the 20 largest companies), mWIG40 (WSE sub-index of 40 medium companies) and sWIG80 (WSE sub-index of 80 small companies). In addition, the outcomes were confronted with public news (from WSE Electronic System for Information Transfer). Findings: Conducted research has shown that generally successful finalisation of acquisition results in changes of stock prices behaviour. Unfortunately, observed reactions were not the same. Acquisitions induced both increases and decreases in stock prices; there was also no rule in case of risk change. Generally, acquisitions and merges had rather good influence in banking sector (which is still concentrating), but there was no common reaction in other sectors. Originality/Value/Practical Implications: The results will be useful for investors acting on Warsaw Stock Exchange, especially for individual investor who are not able to carry out detailed analyses. The research provides results including possible pre-effects and after-effects of making big acquisition by a large company. The negative market reactions were also shown.

scholarly journals Modelling cultural systems and selective filters

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fredrik Jansson ◽  
Elliot Aguilar ◽  
Alberto Acerbi ◽  
Magnus Enquist
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Change ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Selection Process ◽  
Change Models ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Modelling Framework ◽  
Structure Changes ◽  
Cultural Systems ◽  
Cultural Domain ◽  
The Individual

A specific goal of the field of cultural evolution is to understand how processes of transmission and selection at the individual level lead to population-wide patterns of cultural diversity and change. Models of cultural evolution have typically assumed that traits are independent of one another and essentially exchangeable. But culture has a structure: traits bear relationships to one another that affect the transmission and selection process itself. Here we introduce a modelling framework to explore the effect of cultural structure on the process of learning. Through simulations, we find that introducing this simple structure changes the cultural dynamics. Based on a basic filtering mechanism for parsing these relationships, more elaborate cultural filters emerge. In a mostly incompatible cultural domain of traits, these filters organise culture into mostly (but not fully) consistent and stable systems. Incompatible domains produce small homogeneous cultures, while more compatibility increases size, diversity, and group divergence. When individuals copy based on a trait's features (here, its compatibility relationships) they produce more homogeneous cultures than when they copy based on the agent carrying the cultural trait. We discuss the implications of considering cultural systems and filters in the dynamics of cultural change.

scholarly journals Self-organization and information transfer in Antarctic krill swarms

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicia L. Burns ◽  
Timothy M. Schaerf ◽  
Joseph T. Lizier ◽  
So Kawaguchi ◽  
Martin Cox ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information Flow ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Information Transfer ◽  
Antarctic Krill ◽  
Keystone Species ◽  
Self Organization ◽  
Detailed Understanding ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Directional Alignment ◽  
Swarming Behavior

AbstractAntarctic krill swarms are one of the largest known animal aggregations. However, despite being the keystone species of the Southern Ocean, little is known about how swarms are formed and maintained, and we lack a detailed understanding of the local interactions between individuals that provide the basis for these swarms. Here we analyzed the trajectories of captive, wild-caught krill in 3D to determine individual level interaction rules and quantify patterns of information flow. Our results suggest krill operate a novel form of collective organization, with measures of information flow and individual movement adjustments expressed most strongly in the vertical dimension, a finding not seen in other swarming species. In addition, local directional alignment with near neighbors, and strong regulation of both direction and speed relative to the positions of groupmates suggest social factors are vital to the formation and maintenance of swarms. This research represents a first step in understanding the fundamentally important swarming behavior of krill.

Popularity

2019 ◽  
pp. 71-95
Author(s):  
Alberto Acerbi
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Influence ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Evolution Theory ◽  
Consumer Reviews ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Cultural Evolution Theory

The tendency to copy the majority is the topic of the fourth chapter. The fact that online popularity produces long-tailed distributions is often presented as an argument to show the power of online social influence. However, long-tailed distributions are a trademark of many cultural domains, from first names to dog breeds. In addition, these distributions do not necessarily imply the existence of an individual-level tendency to prefer popular things, but they can be the result of bare availability: the more examples of an item, the more likely we will encounter it, and the more likely we will become interested in it. Conformity is next considered: as defined in cultural evolution, conformity implies an effective tendency to copy the majority. As for celebrities, various experiments are reviewed, and the author defends a view for which conformity is far from automatic, as it interacts with many other psychological tendencies. How digital technologies permit radically new forms of popularity advertisements, from the real-time quantification of “likes” in social media to the explosion of consumer reviews, or top-lists of virtually everything, is also examined and discussed in relation to cultural evolution theory.

scholarly journals Cultural selection shapes network structure

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (8) ◽  
pp. eaaw0609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Smolla ◽  
Erol Akçay
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Network Structure ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Level Structure ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Skill Sets ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Dense Networks ◽  
The Social

Cultural evolution relies on the social transmission of cultural traits along a population’s social network. Research indicates that network structure affects information spread and thus the capacity for cumulative culture. However, how network structure itself is driven by population-culture co-evolution remains largely unclear. We use a simple model to investigate how populations negotiate the trade-off between acquiring new skills and getting better at existing skills and how this trade-off shapes social networks. We find unexpected eco-evolutionary feedbacks from culture onto social networks and vice versa. We show that selecting for skill generalists results in sparse networks with diverse skill sets, whereas selecting for skill specialists results in dense networks and a population that specializes on the same few skills on which everyone is an expert. Our model advances our understanding of the complex feedbacks in cultural evolution and demonstrates how individual-level behavior can lead to the emergence of population-level structure.

From individual cognition to populational culture

2012 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 245-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krist Vaesen
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Population Dynamic ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Dynamic Models ◽  
Cumulative Culture ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Full Explanation ◽  
Individual Cognition ◽  
Future Work

AbstractIn my response to the commentaries from a collection of esteemed researchers, I reassess and eventually find largely intact my claim that human tool use evidences higher social and non-social cognitive ability. Nonetheless, I concede that my examination of individual-level cognitive traits does not offer a full explanation of cumulative culture yet. For that, one needs to incorporate them into population-dynamic models of cultural evolution. I briefly describe my current and future work on this.

Epigenetic and cultural evolution are non-Darwinian

2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 371-371
Author(s):  
Liane Gabora
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Self Assembly ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Early Evolution ◽  
Epigenetic Change ◽  
Assembly Code ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Evolution Of Life ◽  
Distinct Role

AbstractThe argument that heritable epigenetic change plays a distinct role in evolution would be strengthened through recognition that it is what bootstrapped the origin and early evolution of life, and that, like behavioral and symbolic change, it is non-Darwinian. The mathematics of natural selection, a population-level process, is limited to replication with negligible individual-level change that uses a self-assembly code.

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