PSYCH 307- Lecture 5 Cultural transmission -transfer and acquisition of cultural info through social learning Occurs in 3 broad directions- depends on size and extent of industrialization in the society 1) Vertical transmission -when cultural info is transferred from (genetic) parents to their (genetic) children -parents teaching how to cook 2) Horizontal transmission -when cultural info is transferred among peers -same age sharing info with each other -roommates teaching how to cook 3) Oblique transmission -passing on of cultural info from someone of older generation to someone of younger generation -not direct genetic. parents -grandparents, teachers teaching children, television Hunter gatherer societies -high levels of vertical transmission, very early on in life -as children grow up, horizontal cultural transmission -some level of oblique transmission, taking care of others' kids Industrialized societies -start early lives, relying on vertical transmission -playing with other kids, vertical
-unique in terms of how early we send/ expose kids to school and focus on education- oblique transmission =language and theory of mind- reasons for cultural transmission =2 imp cognitive tools that facilitate cultural transmission Language -can't communicate without it- being able to communicate with others is important for conveying cultural information -allows communication of ideas, without visual demonstration -through language people can manipulate thoughts in others' minds -not unique to humans -facilitates coordination of behaviors in large groups -human language can continue to create new linguistic information -never uttered before in life -key for cultural transmission -complex language unique to humans Theory of mind -understanding of others' intentional states -people understand that others have minds that are different from their own, and thus that other people have perspectives and intentions that are different from their own -when humans learn from each other, they are able to take on the perspective of others -theory of mind facilitates sophisticated cultural learning -understanding that other people can have other thoughts, perspectives than us -not that natural -revolution in cognitive skills, not something we are born with -learned over time, get better at it as we interact more with others 2
Tomasello 1) -theory of mind unique to humans- no other species appear to strive to share their experiences and activities with others of their own kind -human abilities and motivations to imagine the perspectives and intentions of others and to share their own perspectives and intentions with others are far superior to those of chimps and other animals- this provides an important step in being able to fruitfully engage in cultural learning 2) -we experience developmental stages -at each stage we have mini revolutions -with each revolution- sophisticated theory of mind 4 stages: i) starts at birth-9 months -infants paying attention to objects in front of them -won't actually be paying attention to the teacher or what he/she is teaching -only tries to figure out the purpose of the object -emulative learning >learning is focused on the environmental events that are involved >individual has to use creative insight and problem-solving skills to imagine how an object could be used