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Science 1 October 1982:
Vol. 218. no. 4567, pp. 19 - 27
DOI: 10.1126/science.7123211
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Articles

Science, Vol 218, Issue 4567, 19-27
Copyright © 1982 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

Theory and observation in cultural transmission

LL Cavalli-Sforza, MW Feldman, KH Chen, and SM Dornbusch

Cultural phenomena may show considerable stability over time and space. Transmission mechanisms responsible for their maintenance are worthy of theoretical and empirical inquiry; they are complex and each possible pathway has different effects on evolutionary stability of traits, as can be shown theoretically. A survey designed to evaluate the importance of some components of cultural transmission on a variety of traits showed that religion and politics are mostly determined in the family, a mode of transmission which guarantees high evolutionary stability and maintenance of high variation between and within groups.


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From the Cover: Natural selection and cultural rates of change.
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How Culture Can Guide Evolution: An Inquiry into Gene/Meme Enhancement and Opposition.
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