Dual inheritance theory
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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| - | '''Evolutionary psychology''' is a [[theoretical]] approach to [[psychology]] that attempts to explain [[Mind|mental]] and psychological [[Trait theory|trait]]s—such as [[memory]], [[perception]], or [[language]]—as [[adaptation]]s, i.e., as the functional products of [[natural selection]]. The purpose of this approach is to bring an [[adaptationist]] way of thinking about biological mechanisms such as the immune system into the field of psychology, and to approach [[Psychological adaptation|psychological mechanisms]] in a similar way. In short, evolutionary psychology is focused on how [[evolution]] has shaped the [[mind]] and [[behavior]]. Though applicable to any [[organism]] with a [[nervous system]], most research in evolutionary psychology focuses on humans. Closely related fields are [[human behavioral ecology]], [[dual inheritance theory]], and [[sociobiology]]. | + | '''Dual inheritance theory''' ('''DIT'''), also known as '''gene-culture coevolution''', was developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s to explain how [[human behavior]] is a product of two different and interacting [[evolution]]ary processes: [[genetic evolution]] and [[cultural evolution]]. DIT is a "middle-ground" between much of [[social science]], which views [[culture]] as the primary cause of human behavioral variation, and human [[sociobiology]] and [[evolutionary psychology]] which view culture as an insignificant by-product of genetic selection. In DIT, culture is defined as information in human brains that got there by [[Observational learning|social learning]]. Cultural evolution is considered a Darwinian selection process that acts on cultural information. Dual Inheritance Theorists often describe this by analogy to genetic evolution, which is a Darwinian selection process acting on genetic information. |
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| + | Because genetic evolution is relatively well understood, most of DIT examines cultural evolution and the interactions between cultural evolution and genetic evolution. | ||
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| + | ==See also== | ||
| + | * [[Nature versus nurture]] | ||
| + | * [[Adaptive bias]] | ||
| + | * [[Cultural selection theory]] | ||
| + | * [[Memetics]] | ||
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Dual inheritance theory (DIT), also known as gene-culture coevolution, was developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s to explain how human behavior is a product of two different and interacting evolutionary processes: genetic evolution and cultural evolution. DIT is a "middle-ground" between much of social science, which views culture as the primary cause of human behavioral variation, and human sociobiology and evolutionary psychology which view culture as an insignificant by-product of genetic selection. In DIT, culture is defined as information in human brains that got there by social learning. Cultural evolution is considered a Darwinian selection process that acts on cultural information. Dual Inheritance Theorists often describe this by analogy to genetic evolution, which is a Darwinian selection process acting on genetic information.
Because genetic evolution is relatively well understood, most of DIT examines cultural evolution and the interactions between cultural evolution and genetic evolution.
See also
