Human culture develops as we build on the past by using existing knowledge to develop new knowledge. Because of this cumulative process our culture has become diverse and complex in a form which is incomparable to other species.
Researhers (from the University of St. Andrews) compared the performance of human children, chimpanzees and capuchins working in a group on a puzzle with three difficulty levels, each level building on the last, with increasingly desirable rewards.
A far greater number of children than chimpanzees or capuchins reached the higher levels.
Children reaching the higher levels received more instructions from the other children, they tried to copy other’s behavior more, and other children shared their obtained rewards more with them.
While succesful children thus had a social approach to the task, this type of social behavior was almost absent in chimpanzees and capuchins.
This study reveals the importance of sociocognitive processes for cultural transmission, and suggests this as the primary reason why human culture might have become as complex and diverse as it presently is.
Researhers (from the University of St. Andrews) compared the performance of human children, chimpanzees and capuchins working in a group on a puzzle with three difficulty levels, each level building on the last, with increasingly desirable rewards.
A far greater number of children than chimpanzees or capuchins reached the higher levels.
Children reaching the higher levels received more instructions from the other children, they tried to copy other’s behavior more, and other children shared their obtained rewards more with them.
While succesful children thus had a social approach to the task, this type of social behavior was almost absent in chimpanzees and capuchins.
This study reveals the importance of sociocognitive processes for cultural transmission, and suggests this as the primary reason why human culture might have become as complex and diverse as it presently is.
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