Risk-senstive adaptive tactics: Models and evidence from subsistence studies in biology and anthropology

Winterhalder, Bruce; Lu, Flora; Tucker, Bram

doi:10.1007/bf02446047

Cited by 181 publications

(149 citation statements)

References 126 publications

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“…A broad range of empirical and theoretical studies of culturally determined behaviors bear directly on human fitness, past and present. Human ecological traits, such as life history profiles, subsistence strategies, mating preferences, economic decision making, and social structures (119)(120)(121)(122), have been analyzed to predict individual behavior and to support potential intervention that might alter human behaviors at the societal level.…”

Section: Models Of Culture and Human Ecologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural evolutionary theory: How culture evolves and why it matters

Creanza

Kolodny

Feldman

2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

350

203

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Human cultural traits-behaviors, ideas, and technologies that can be learned from other individuals-can exhibit complex patterns of transmission and evolution, and researchers have developed theoretical models, both verbal and mathematical, to facilitate our understanding of these patterns. Many of the first quantitative models of cultural evolution were modified from existing concepts in theoretical population genetics because cultural evolution has many parallels with, as well as clear differences from, genetic evolution. Furthermore, cultural and genetic evolution can interact with one another and influence both transmission and selection. This interaction requires theoretical treatments of gene-culture coevolution and dual inheritance, in addition to purely cultural evolution. In addition, cultural evolutionary theory is a natural component of studies in demography, human ecology, and many other disciplines. Here, we review the core concepts in cultural evolutionary theory as they pertain to the extension of biology through culture, focusing on cultural evolutionary applications in population genetics, ecology, and demography. For each of these disciplines, we review the theoretical literature and highlight relevant empirical studies. We also discuss the societal implications of the study of cultural evolution and of the interactions of humans with one another and with their environment. cultural evolution | mathematical models | gene-culture coevolution | niche construction | demography H uman culture encompasses ideas, behaviors, and artifacts that can be learned and transmitted between individuals and can change over time (1). This process of transmission and change is reminiscent of Darwin's principle of descent with modification through natural selection, and Darwin himself drew this explicit link in the case of languages: "The formation of different languages and of distinct species, and the proofs that both have been developed through a gradual process, are curiously parallel" (2, 3). Theory underpins most scientific endeavors, and, in the 1970s, researchers began to lay the groundwork for cultural evolutionary theory, building on the neo-Darwinian synthesis of genetics and evolution by using verbal, diagrammatic, and mathematical models (4-8). These models are, by necessity, approximations of reality (9), but because they require researchers to specify their assumptions and extract the most important features from complex processes, they have proven exceedingly useful in advancing the study of cultural evolution (10). Here, we review the field of cultural evolutionary theory as it pertains to the extension of biology through culture. We focus on human culture because the bulk of cultural evolutionary models are human-centric and certain processes such as cumulative culture seem to be unique to humans. However, numerous nonhuman species also exhibit cultural transmission, and we consider the areas of overlap between models of human and animal culture in Discussion.The study of cultural evolution is im...

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Section: Models Of Culture and Human Ecologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural evolutionary theory: How culture evolves and why it matters

Creanza

Kolodny

Feldman

2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

350

203

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“…Likewise, we have no models to guide speculation on whether egalitarianism is an advantage or a hindrance in managing early agricultural risk. We do know that risk-sensitive adaptations are ubiquitous elements of behavior (Winterhalder, Lu, and Tucker 1999). But this knowledge has not been applied to the problems posed by agricultural origins.…”

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confidence: 99%

Four Neglected Concepts with a Role to Play in Explaining the Origins of Agriculture

Winterhalder¹,

Kennett

2009

Current Anthropology

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“…Although a variety of evolutionary-based hypotheses have been proposed to account for cooperative food sharing, including tolerated theft (e.g., Bliege Bird & Bird, 1997;Kaplan & Hill, 1985), social benefits (e.g., Hawkes, 1993), and costly signaling (e.g., Bliege Bird, Smith, & Bird, 2001), a hypothesis that has been investigated in a number of studies is that food sharing is a risk-averse strategy that minimizes the probability of a food shortage (e.g., Cashdan, 1985;Kaplan & Hill, 1985;Winterhalder, Lu, & Tucker, 1999). That is, when food gains are variable, if individuals who have acquired food share with those who have been unsuccessful then energy gains will be averaged across individuals and sharing can protect against a shortfall (Cashdan, 1985).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk Reduction and Resource Pooling on a Cooperation Task

et al. 2006

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Two experiments investigated choice in adult humans on a simulated cooperation task to evaluate a risk-reduction account of sharing based on the energy-budget rule. The energy-budget rule is an optimal foraging model that predicts risk-averse choices when net energy gains exceed energy requirements (positive energy budget) and risk-prone choices when net energy gains fall below energy requirements (negative energy budget) . Because sharing can minimize variability in energy gain (i.e. , is a riskaverse strategy) , the model predicts that sharing should occur under positive but not negative budget conditions. Energy budgets were modeled by substituting money gains for energy gains and earnings requirements for energy requirements. Participants chose between work-alone or work-with-others (sharing) response options. Experiment 1 investigated the effects on choice of manipulating the value of the earnings requirement and the presence of the partner's money counter. Choice for the sharing option varied as a function of the earnings requirement in a pattern consistent with the predictions of the energy-budget rule. The presence of the partner's money counter did not influence preference. Experiment 2 replicated Experiment 1 and also showed that under conditions with no earnings requirement (conditions in which the energy-budget rule makes no predictions) , subjects often preferred the sharing option over the independent option when sharing increased the partner's 13arnings, and that subjects often preferred an independent option over the sharing option when the independent option produced a constant earnings amount. Overall, the results replicate and extend the results of earlier earnings-budget studies and further show that laboratory procedures are useful for evaluating the plredictions of risksensitive and social-foraging models.

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Risk-senstive adaptive tactics: Models and evidence from subsistence studies in biology and anthropology

Abstract: Risk-sensitive analysis of subsistence adaptations is warranted when ( i) outcomes

Cited by 181 publications

References 126 publications

Cultural evolutionary theory: How culture evolves and why it matters

Cultural evolutionary theory: How culture evolves and why it matters

Four Neglected Concepts with a Role to Play in Explaining the Origins of Agriculture

Risk Reduction and Resource Pooling on a Cooperation Task

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