Journal ArticleDOI
Coevolution of neocortical size, group size and language in humans
TLDR
It is suggested that the evolution of large groups in the human lineage depended on developing a more efficient method for time-sharing the processes of social bonding and that language uniquely fulfills this requirement.Abstract:
Group size is a function of relative neocortical volume in nonhuman primates. Extrapolation from this regression equation yields a predicted group size for modern humans very similar to that of certain hunter-gatherer and traditional horticulturalist societies. Groups of similar size are also found in other large-scale forms of contemporary and historical society. Among primates, the cohesion of groups is maintained by social grooming; the time devoted to social grooming is linearly related to group size among the Old World monkeys and apes. To maintain the stability of the large groups characteristic of humans by grooming alone would place intolerable demands on time budgets. It is suggested that (1) the evolution of large groups in the human lineage depended on the development of a more efficient method for time-sharing the processes of social bonding and that (2) language uniquely fulfills this requirement. Data on the size of conversational and other small interacting groups of humans are in line with the predictions for the relative efficiency of conversation compared to grooming as a bonding process. Analysis of a sample of human conversations shows that about 60% of time is spent gossiping about relationships and personal experiences. It is suggested that language evolved to allow individuals to learn about the behavioural characteristics of other group members more rapidly than is possible by direct observation alone.read more
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Human social preferences cluster and spread in the field
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that intrinsic social preferences, such as fairness and altruism, cluster and spread in human real-world friendship networks and that cooperative preferences are contagious; social and cultural learning plays an important role in the development and evolution of cooperation.
Journal ArticleDOI
The effects of organizational divisions on knowledge-sharing networks in multi-lateral communities of practice
TL;DR: In this paper, the influence of organizational structures on informal knowledge-sharing networks is quantitatively assessed in the context of communities of practice (CoPs) and organizational silos, and it is found that organizational structures have a similar effect on knowledge sharing within CoPs.
Journal ArticleDOI
Knowing who likes who: The early developmental basis of coalition understanding
Lara Platten,Lara Platten,Mikołaj Hernik,Mikołaj Hernik,Peter Fonagy,Peter Fonagy,R. M. Pasco Fearon +6 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reviewed recent empirical research which indicates that in the first 2 years of life infants achieve a host of social-cognitive abilities that make them well adapted to processing coalition-affiliations of others.
Journal ArticleDOI
Flexible Latching: A Biologically-Inspired Mechanism for Improving the Management of Homeostatic Goals
TL;DR: An easy-to-implement, general-purpose latching method that allows for a balance between persistence and flexibility in the presence of interruptions and drastically improves efficiency in handling multiple competing goals at a surprisingly small amount of additional code (or cognitive) complexity.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
The Genetical Evolution of Social Behaviour. I
TL;DR: A genetical mathematical model is described which allows for interactions between relatives on one another's fitness and a quantity is found which incorporates the maximizing property of Darwinian fitness, named “inclusive fitness”.
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Phylogenies and the Comparative Method
TL;DR: A method of correcting for the phylogeny has been proposed, which specifies a set of contrasts among species, contrasts that are statistically independent and can be used in regression or correlation studies.
Book
The comparative method in evolutionary biology
Paul H. Harvey,Mark Pagel +1 more
TL;DR: The comparative method for studying adaptation why worry about phylogeny?
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The Adapted mind : evolutionary psychology and the generation of culture
TL;DR: The Adapted Mind as discussed by the authors explores evolutionary psychology and its implications for a new view of culture, in which the traditional view of the mind as a general-purpose computer, tabula rasa or passive recipient of culture is being replaced by the view that the mind resembles an intricate network of functionally specialized computers, each of which imposes contentful structure on human mental organization and culture.
Journal ArticleDOI
Culture and the evolutionary process
Robert Boyd,Peter J. Richerson +1 more
TL;DR: Using methods developed by population biologists, a theory of cultural evolution is proposed that is an original and fair-minded alternative to the sociobiology debate.