Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, , Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada , V6T 1Z4, Psychology Department, University of California, , Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA, Department of Economics, University of British Columbia, , Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada , V6T 1Z4, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, , Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Proc Biol Sci. 2013 Nov 13;281(1774):20132511. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2013.2511. Print 2014 Jan 7.
Archaeological and ethnohistorical evidence suggests a link between a population's size and structure, and the diversity or sophistication of its toolkits or technologies. Addressing these patterns, several evolutionary models predict that both the size and social interconnectedness of populations can contribute to the complexity of its cultural repertoire. Some models also predict that a sudden loss of sociality or of population will result in subsequent losses of useful skills/technologies. Here, we test these predictions with two experiments that permit learners to access either one or five models (teachers). Experiment 1 demonstrates that naive participants who could observe five models, integrate this information and generate increasingly effective skills (using an image editing tool) over 10 laboratory generations, whereas those with access to only one model show no improvement. Experiment 2, which began with a generation of trained experts, shows how learners with access to only one model lose skills (in knot-tying) more rapidly than those with access to five models. In the final generation of both experiments, all participants with access to five models demonstrate superior skills to those with access to only one model. These results support theoretical predictions linking sociality to cumulative cultural evolution.
考古学和民族历史学证据表明，人口的规模和结构，以及其工具包或技术的多样性或复杂性之间存在联系。为了解决这些模式，几个进化模型预测，人口的规模和社会互联性都可以为其文化储备的复杂性做出贡献。一些模型还预测，社会关系或人口的突然丧失将导致随后丧失有用的技能/技术。在这里，我们通过两个实验来检验这些预测，这两个实验允许学习者访问一个或五个模型（教师）。实验 1 表明，能够观察到五个模型的天真参与者可以整合这些信息，并在 10 个实验室世代中生成越来越有效的技能（使用图像编辑工具），而只能访问一个模型的参与者则没有任何提高。实验 2 从一代训练有素的专家开始，表明只能访问一个模型的学习者在失去技能（打结）方面比可以访问五个模型的学习者更快。在两个实验的最后一代中，所有可以访问五个模型的参与者都表现出比只能访问一个模型的参与者更好的技能。这些结果支持了将社交性与累积文化进化联系起来的理论预测。
