If you presume relevance, you don’t need a bifocal lens (Commentary on Jagiello et al., 2022, BBS.)

Abstract

We argue for a relevance-guided learning mechanism to account for both innovative reproduction and faithful imitation by focusing on the role of communication in knowledge transmission. Unlike bifocal stance theory, this mechanism does not require a strict divide between instrumental and ritual-like actions, and the goals they respectively fulfill (material vs. social/ affiliative), to account for flexibility in action interpretation and reproduction.