Abstract
Cumulative culture denotes the, arguably, human capacity to build on the cultural behaviors of one's predecessors, allowing increases in cultural complexity to occur such that many of our cultural artifacts, products and technologies have progressed beyond what a single individual could invent alone. This process of cumulative cultural evolution underlies human cultural success and has enabled us to reach and inhabit some of the most inhospitable environments on this planet. Why humans, but not other animals, have exhibited a cultural explosion has caused much deliberation. The human propensity to imitate, teach, "mind-read" and cooperate have all featured prominently in accounts of the prerequisites for cumulative culture. However, this may not represent the complete picture. In this article we consider whether there exists a link between future thinking, specifically prospective mental time travel, and the observed distribution of cumulative culture.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 220-230 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Learning and Motivation |
Volume | 43 |
Issue number | 4 |
Early online date | 28 Aug 2012 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 01 Nov 2012 |
Keywords
- Cumulative culture
- Episodic foresight
- Future thinking
- Mental time travel
- Ratcheting
- Social learning
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Health(social science)
- Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
- Education
- Developmental and Educational Psychology