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Outputs (20)

The selectivity of social learning and the tempo of cultural evolution (2011)
Journal Article
Bentley, R., & O’Brien, M. (2011). The selectivity of social learning and the tempo of cultural evolution. Journal of cultural and evolutionary psychology, 9(2), 125-141. https://doi.org/10.1556/jep.9.2011.18.1

Many modern studies of cultural innovation and demographic change rest on the proposition that social learning is a key process in the spread of novel variants. We agree with this proposition, but we also suggest that the selectivity of social learni... Read More about The selectivity of social learning and the tempo of cultural evolution.

Evolving social influence in large populations (2011)
Journal Article
Bentley, R., Ormerod, P., & Batty, M. (2011). Evolving social influence in large populations. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 65(3), 537-546. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-010-1102-1

Darwinian studies of collective human behaviour, which deal fluently with change and are grounded in the details of social influence among individuals, have much to offer “social” models from the physical sciences which have elegant statistical regul... Read More about Evolving social influence in large populations.

Independent cultural evolution of two song traditions in the chestnut-sided warbler (2010)
Journal Article
Byers, B., Belinsky, K., & Bentley, R. (2010). Independent cultural evolution of two song traditions in the chestnut-sided warbler. The American Naturalist, 176(4), 476-489. https://doi.org/10.1086/656268

In oscine songbirds, song phenotypes arise via gene‐culture coevolution, in which genetically transmitted learning predispositions and culturally transmitted song forms influence one another's evolution. To assess the outcome of this process in a pop... Read More about Independent cultural evolution of two song traditions in the chestnut-sided warbler.

A rapid method for assessing social versus independent interest in health issues: A case study of 'bird flu' And 'swine flu' (2010)
Journal Article
Bentley, R., & Ormerod, P. (2010). A rapid method for assessing social versus independent interest in health issues: A case study of 'bird flu' And 'swine flu'. Social Science & Medicine, 71(3), 482-485. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.03.042

Effective communication strategies regarding health issues are affected by the way in which the public obtain their knowledge, particularly whether people become interested independently, or through their social networks. This is often investigated t... Read More about A rapid method for assessing social versus independent interest in health issues: A case study of 'bird flu' And 'swine flu'.

Fashion versus reason in the creative industries (2009)
Book Chapter
Bentley, R. (2009). Fashion versus reason in the creative industries. In M. O'Brien, & S. Shennan (Eds.), Innovation in cultural systems : contributions from evolutionary anthropology (121-136). Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press

Traditional models already explain adoption/abandonment pattern (2009)
Journal Article
Bentley, R., & Ormerod, P. (2009). Traditional models already explain adoption/abandonment pattern. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(39), https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0908721106

Berger and Le Mens (1) analyze US records of baby-name popularity in the 20th century and nicely demonstrate the symmetry in the rise and decline of patterns of adoption over time. They suggest that this result negates traditional diffusion models “d... Read More about Traditional models already explain adoption/abandonment pattern.

Kinship, marriage, and the genetics of past human dispersals. (2009)
Journal Article
Bentley, R., Layton, R., & Tehrani, J. (2009). Kinship, marriage, and the genetics of past human dispersals. Human Biology: The Official Publication of the American Association of Anthropological Genetics, 81(2-3), 159-179. https://doi.org/10.3378/027.081.0304

The extent to which colonizing farmer populations have overwhelmed or “replaced” indigenous forager populations, as opposed to having intermarried with them, has been widely debated. Indigenous-colonist “admixture” is often represented in genetic mod... Read More about Kinship, marriage, and the genetics of past human dispersals..