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Cultural group selection is an explanatory model within cultural evolution of how cultural traits evolve according to the competitive advantage they bestow upon a group. This multidisciplinary approach to the question of human culture engages research from the fields of anthropology, behavioural economics, evolutionary biology, evolutionary game theory, sociology, and psychology. While cultural norms are often beneficial to the individuals who hold them, they need not be.〔Diamond, Jared. "The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race." Discover Magazine. May. 64-66. 1987.〕 Norms can spread by cultural group selection when they are practiced within successful groups, and norms are more likely to spread from groups that are successful. But, in order for cultural group selection to occur, there must be cultural differences between groups, which can transmit across time, and which effect the persistence or proliferation of the groups.〔Campbell, D.T. Variation and selective retention in sociocultural evolution. Social change in developing areas: A reinterpretation of evolutionary theory. Cambridge: Schenkman. 1965. 19-49.〕 Cultural norms that provide these advantages will, in turn, lead to the displacement, absorption or even extinction of other, less successful cultural groups.〔Soltis, J., Boyd, R., Richerson, P.J., 1995. Can group-functional behaviours evolve by cultural group selection? An empirical test. Current Anthropology 36 (3), 473–494.〕 However, game theoretic models suggest that if individuals are able to migrate between groups (which is common in small-scale societies), differences between groups should be difficult to maintain.〔Henrich, J. Cultural group selection, coevolutionary processes and large-scale cooperation. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. Volume 53, Issue 1, January 2004, 3–35.〕 Research in psychology reveals that humans have a particular set of traits, which include imitation, conformity, and in-group bias, that are capable of supporting the maintenance of these group differences over extended periods of time. Cultural group selection gives a compelling explanation for how large-scale complex societies have formed. While altruistic behaviour such as kin selection and reciprocity can explain the behaviour of small social groups common in many species, it is unable to explain the large complex societies of unrelated, anonymous individuals that we see in the human species.〔 However, one of the major distinctions between humans and other species is our reliance on social learning in acquiring behaviours.〔Horner, V. Whiten, A. Causal knowledge and imitation/emulation switching in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and children (Homo sapiens). Animal Cognition (2005) 8: 164–181〕 These instincts allow for the acquisition and persistence of culture.〔Tomasello, M. The Human Adaptation for Culture. Annual Review of Anthropology , Vol. 28, (1999), pp. 509-529〕 Through cultural group selection, culturally specific cooperative behaviour can evolve to support large societies.〔 For example, in a study that spanned a variety of cultures, testing behaviour in Ultimatum, Dictator, and Third-party punishment games, it was found that standards of fairness and inclination to punish were correlated with both participation in world religions and market integration.〔Henrich, J., et al. Markets, Religion, Community Size, and the Evolution of Fairness and Punishment. Science 327, 1480 (2010)〕 This indicates how many of the behaviours necessary for complex societies are the result of cultural exposure rather than any evolution of our psychology. == Human adaptations for culture == For cultural knowledge and behaviour to persist across multiple generations, humans need to have the capacity to acquire, retain, and transmit cultural information. While many species engage in social learning, humans consistently rely upon it for behavioural cues and information about the environment. In a study comparing human children and young chimpanzees, it was shown that, when given a demonstration on how to retrieve a reward from a box, chimps copy relevant behaviour, while ignoring irrelevant behaviour, to solve the task. Meanwhile, human children will faithfully imitate both relevant and irrelevant behaviour to solve the same task.〔 While this may seem like a negative quality, it is what allows for reliable, high-fidelity transmission of cultural information, and produces stable behavioural equilibria within cultural groups.〔 Michael Tomasello suggests the following three adaptations are necessary for human culture:〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cultural group selection」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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