Contamination sensitivity and the development of disease-avoidant behaviour

Siegal, Michael; Fadda, Roberta; Overton, Paul G.

doi:10.1098/rstb.2011.0036

Cited by 31 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…While the guinea form and other known examples are obviously recent, effective cultural adaptations to parasite infection [114][115][116][117] could have likewise occurred at earlier periods in hominin evolution. In fact, such behaviors are not even limited to humans.…”

Section: Box 2 Host Biological and Cultural Adaptations To Parasite mentioning

confidence: 99%

Parasites and human evolution

Perry¹

2014

Evolutionary Anthropology

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Our understanding of human evolutionary and population history can be advanced by ecological and evolutionary studies of our parasites. Many parasites flourish only in the presence of very specific human behaviors and in specific habitats, are wholly dependent on us, and have evolved with us for thousands or millions of years. Therefore, by asking when and how we first acquired those parasites, under which environmental and cultural conditions we are the most susceptible, and how the parasites have evolved and adapted to us and we in response to them, we can gain considerable insight into our own evolutionary history. As examples, the tapeworm life cycle is dependent on our consumption of meat, the divergence of body and head lice may have been subsequent to the development of clothing, and malaria hyperendemicity may be associated with agriculture. Thus, the evolutionary and population histories of these parasites are likely intertwined with critical aspects of human biology and culture. Here I review the mechanics of these and multiple other parasite proxies for human evolutionary history and discuss how they currently complement our fossil, archeological, molecular, linguistic, historical, and ethnographic records. I also highlight potential future applications of this promising model for the field of evolutionary anthropology.

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Section: Box 2 Host Biological and Cultural Adaptations To Parasite mentioning

confidence: 99%

Parasites and human evolution

Perry¹

2014

Evolutionary Anthropology

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“…Here, eat it.” Previous research suggesting an early understanding of food contamination in toddlers and preschoolers was the basis for the food contamination in toddlers and preschoolers was the basis for the malevolent source's claim about the popcorn (e.g., Brown & Harris, 2012; Brown, Harris, Bell, & Lines, 2012). In particular, there is evidence that 3-year-olds have heightened sensitivity to food contaminated by insects, have the ability to evaluate others' responses to the contamination, and infer preventative actions to be taken to avoid illness (Siegal & Share, 1990; see also Siegal, Fadda, & Overton, 2011). …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trust and doubt: An examination of children’s decision to believe what they are told about food

Nguyen

Gordon

Chevalier

et al. 2016

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

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The domain of food is one that is highly relevant and vital to the everyday lives of children. However, children's reasoning about this domain is poorly understood within the field of developmental psychology. Because children's learning about food, including its evaluative components (e.g., health, taste) is so heavily dependent upon information conveyed by other people, a major developmental challenge that children face is determining who to distrust regarding food. In three studies, this investigation examined how 3- to 4-year-olds and adults (N = 312) use different cues to determine when to ignore informant information (i.e., distrust what an informant tells them by choosing an alternative) in food- and nonfood-specific scenarios. The results of Study 1 indicated that by age 4, children are less trusting of inaccurate sources of information compared with sources that have not demonstrated previous inaccuracy. Study 2 revealed that these results are applicable across the domain of objects. The results of Study 3 indicated that by age 4, children trust benevolent sources more often than malevolent ones. Thus, when reasoning about the evaluative components of food, by age 4, children appraise other people's untrustworthiness by paying attention to their inaccuracy and malevolence.

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“…Nevertheless, this behavior is shaped from a very young age by oral and behavioral cues of caregivers (Rottman, 2014;Widen & Russell, 2013). In this fashion, the implicit germ theory of caregivers guides the child's causal intuitions based on experience, leading to a relatively sophisticated understanding of contamination and disease even among preschoolers (Legare, Wellman, & Gelman, 2009;Siegal, Fadda, & Overton, 2011;Toyama, 2000). Hence, children are enculturated into the explanatory schemes of the culture (Hejmadi et al, 2004)-in practice before in explicit theorythrough caregivers' signals in actual behavioral contexts.…”

Section: Role Of Pollution Beliefs In Shaping Contamination Appraisalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contamination Appraisals, Pollution Beliefs, and the Role of Cultural Inheritance in Shaping Disease Avoidance Behavior

Feder

2015

Cognitive Science

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Despite the upsurge of research on disgust, the implications of this research for the investigation of cultural pollution beliefs has yet to be adequately explored. In particular, the sensitivity of both disgust and pollution to a common set of elicitors (e.g., bodily emissions, disease, and death) suggests a common psychological basis, though several obstacles have prevented an integrative account, including methodological differences between the relevant disciplines. Employing a conciliatory framework that embraces both naturalistic (evolutionary) and humanistic levels of explanation, this article examines the dynamic reciprocal process by which contamination/contagion appraisals in individuals serve to shape-and are in turn shaped by-culture-specific pollution beliefs. This complex interrelationship is illustrated by examining ancient Near Eastern and modern ethnographic documentation of pollution beliefs, highlighting the underappreciated function of these pollution beliefs as folk theories for the spread of infectious disease. By evaluating how pollution beliefs (as also modern germ theory) shape contamination appraisals in individuals, it will be argued that cultural inheritance has played a much larger role in guiding disease avoidance behavior than has been previously recognized.

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Contamination sensitivity and the development of disease-avoidant behaviour

Cited by 31 publications

References 44 publications

Parasites and human evolution

Parasites and human evolution

Trust and doubt: An examination of children’s decision to believe what they are told about food

Contamination Appraisals, Pollution Beliefs, and the Role of Cultural Inheritance in Shaping Disease Avoidance Behavior

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