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How Cultural Evolution Shapes Human Cognition and Learning

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Chapter 1: The Role of Imitation in Child Development

Bookstores are magical places, filled with treasures beyond just the written word. Recently, I observed a father engrossed in a book while his young daughter, around three or four years old, entertained herself nearby. Instead of causing mischief or doodling on pages, she mirrored her father's serious demeanor, intently studying a book on mathematical logic.

Children excel at imitation. By emulating their parents and other adults, they grasp the nuances of their social environment—recognizing the facial expressions and gestures that facilitate communication, garner approval, and evade disapproval. This powerful learning mechanism is so impactful that child welfare organizations worldwide remind parents to be mindful of their own behaviors. If you wish for your children not to shout at others, refrain from raising your voice at them.

Traditionally, the belief is that children are inherently 'wired' to imitate. We are dubbed 'Homo imitans,' creatures with an innate compulsion to replicate others’ actions. This instinct to imitate is often considered to be embedded in our genetic makeup. While other species exhibit instinctual behaviors—birds construct nests, cats meow, and pigs are greedy—humans are thought to possess an innate imitative drive.

This notion of cognitive instincts is a foundational concept in evolutionary psychology, established by scholars like Leda Cosmides, John Tooby, and Steven Pinker in the 1990s. They posited that “our modern skulls house a Stone Age mind,” suggesting that our cognitive capabilities have been honed through genetic evolution to suit the needs of small, nomadic groups focused on foraging and hunting. Consequently, it’s not surprising that our primitive instincts might lead to awkward or undesirable outcomes in modern scenarios, leaving us seemingly helpless against our inherited cognitive traits.

However, scrutiny of this perspective reveals significant weaknesses in the evidence supporting it. Upon closer examination, it becomes clear that the field of evolutionary psychology is in need of reevaluation. Rather than being hardwired, our cognitive functions are likely shaped by cultural influences—developed over generations through social interactions. Culture contributes not only to the content of our thoughts but also to the underlying mechanisms of cognition.

In the late 1970s, psychologists Andrew Meltzoff and Keith Moore from the University of Washington discovered that newborns, some only hours old, could mimic various facial expressions like sticking out their tongues or opening their mouths. This sparked the belief that humans are instinctively equipped to learn through imitation. How could such an advanced ability emerge just hours after birth, if not from sophisticated genetics? Meltzoff and Moore proposed that infants must possess a complex cognitive apparatus connecting internal sensations with external observations.

Yet, inconsistencies in their findings began to emerge shortly after their publication. Some researchers struggling to replicate their pivotal results suggested that what appeared to be imitation was merely a reflex triggered by excitement. Further studies indicated that older infants, contrary to expectations, did not imitate facial expressions, including tongue protrusion, lending weight to this interpretation.

More revelations surfaced when it became evident that even fully developed adults could not imitate facial expressions without “mirror experience,” which occurs when individuals perform an action while simultaneously observing it. For instance, if I raise my eyebrows while looking in a mirror or watching someone else do the same, I gain an enhanced ability to replicate the expression.

You can test this at home: record yourself engaging in conversation, then pause the video at a random moment. Attempt to replicate your expression from that frame. If your experience is similar to ours, you will likely find no improvement in your attempts unless you allowed yourself mirror experience during the process.

If the concept of an imitation instinct were dismantled, it would undermine other cherished ideas in psychology. If we truly possessed a built-in cognitive mechanism connecting internal sensations with external observations, we would expect to improve our imitation skills without mirror experience.

Section 1.1: The Challenges of Imitation Research

Many child psychologists have observed the growing doubts surrounding Meltzoff and Moore’s hypothesis yet have hesitated to discard it. Some of this hesitation stems from its compelling narrative; the notion of 'Homo imitans' resonates with many parents who find it easy to confirm their observations through personal experience. By the 1990s, this idea had become a cornerstone of evolutionary psychology, supporting various claims about the mind's genetic underpinnings.

Nevertheless, conducting experiments with newborns presents significant challenges. When awake, they often show little focus, easily distracted by external stimuli. Therefore, only a limited number of infants are attentive long enough to contribute valuable data. Variations in experimental methods could also account for inconsistent outcomes.

Despite these challenges, the idea of an innate imitation instinct maintained its scientific viability until a comprehensive 2016 study from the University of Queensland challenged it. Virginia Slaughter and her colleagues examined a substantial number of infants—106—at various stages post-birth. They tested imitation across nine gestures using rigorous methodologies and found evidence of imitation only in tongue protrusion. In all other instances, babies did not replicate gestures they observed.

While it is impossible to definitively prove that no newborn can imitate, the findings from the Queensland study cast significant doubt on the existence of an innate imitation instinct.

Section 1.2: Learning Through Social Interaction

Instead, what emerges is a picture of human imitation as a skill acquired through social engagement, akin to other social competencies. Some of this understanding comes from adult studies, like the smartphone test previously mentioned, while other insights derive from infant research. A 2018 study by Carina de Klerk and colleagues highlighted that babies' ability to imitate was influenced by their mothers' tendency to mimic their expressions. The more a mother engaged in this behavior, the more likely her baby was to imitate others.

However, this influence is not universally applicable. Maternal imitation enhances infants' capacity to replicate facial expressions but does not extend to hand movements. This specificity indicates the involvement of a straightforward learning mechanism. Babies form associations between their own movements and those of their mothers, learning through experience rather than through an intrinsic imitation instinct.

In recent decades, evidence has increasingly shown that imitation is not an innate cognitive instinct. Humans are not hardwired to imitate; rather, children develop this ability through interactions with others. Parents, adults, and peers facilitate this process by not only copying the child's actions but also engaging in synchronous activities and providing mirror experiences that allow children to connect visual representations of actions with their feelings. Whether through physical or metaphorical mirrors, these experiences cultivate children's imitative skills.

Chapter 2: The Evolution of Cognitive Skills

The first video illustrates Dr. Cecilia Heyes discussing how cognitive gadgets evolve within cultural contexts, emphasizing the interplay between culture and cognition.

As we explore further, we realize that the concept of 'cheater detection'—the ability to discern individuals who violate social norms—also appears to lack the stamp of a cognitive instinct. While humans can recognize rule violations in familiar social contexts, we struggle to apply this reasoning in more abstract scenarios. This suggests that our proficiency in understanding social behavior is not a result of innate cognitive mechanisms but rather stems from experiential learning.

Similarly, the ability to engage in 'mind-reading'—the understanding that ourselves and others have distinct beliefs, desires, and emotions—resembles the acquisition of literacy, which is not genetically predetermined. Research indicates that children learn to interpret mental states through dialogues with their caregivers.

Notably, studies conducted by psychologists Mele Taumoepeau and Ted Ruffman reveal that mothers, in their conversations with toddlers, emphasize desires and emotions over beliefs. This pattern not only enhances infants' ability to recognize emotions but also lays the groundwork for their later understanding of complex mental states.

Even language, once heralded as a cognitive instinct, is now seen as more fragile than previously thought. Although the specifics of any language are undoubtedly learned, many evolutionary psychologists have long believed in an innate understanding of grammatical rules guiding this learning. Recent research, however, challenges this notion, revealing that language acquisition difficulties may extend beyond mere linguistic capabilities, suggesting that our cognitive resources are more dispersed than previously understood.

The evidence supporting cognitive instincts has weakened significantly, necessitating a reevaluation of our understanding of human cognition. The founders of evolutionary psychology were correct in asserting that our cognitive successes stem from specialized computational mechanisms. However, these devices, such as imitation and language, are not hardwired or genetically determined; they are instead cultivated through social interactions and shaped by cultural evolution.

When I mention that cognitive gadgets are constructed during childhood, I do not imply that they emerge from nothing. Infants are born equipped with an array of abilities and assumptions about their surroundings, which guide their social interactions. These foundational skills serve as the scaffolding upon which more complex cognitive structures are built.

The process of cultural evolution involves a Darwinian mechanism that adapts cognitive gadgets to suit their environments. Variants of these cognitive tools arise through social learning and are passed down through generations, shaped by innovations that respond to changing cultural contexts.

The idea that our cognitive landscape consists of cultural gadgets is supported by interdisciplinary research highlighting that many human beliefs and preferences are influenced by cultural evolution. This perspective encourages a radical rethinking of how culture informs not only the products of thought but also the very cognitive mechanisms that underpin our thinking.

Cognitive gadgets, unlike instincts, are human-made rather than genetically encoded. While they are smaller, they can have profound impacts on our lives. Just as kitchen appliances enhance our culinary capabilities, cognitive gadgets enable us to perform complex social behaviors like imitation and communication.

If the gadget theory holds, advancements in technology could accelerate the evolution of our cognitive capabilities.

In closing, while evolutionary psychology has contributed significantly to our understanding of cognition, it is time to acknowledge that our uniquely human cognitive tools have been shaped by cultural, not genetic, evolution. Embracing this perspective opens new avenues for research, enabling us to observe the construction of cognitive gadgets in contemporary populations rather than relying solely on historical artifacts.

The implications of this cultural evolutionary psychology are vast, challenging the notion that our minds are limited by our ancestral past. Instead, it posits that our cognitive faculties can adapt and evolve in response to modern technological landscapes, paving the way for innovative ways of thinking and interacting with the world.

The second video explores how culture influences human evolution, enhancing our cognitive abilities and shaping our identities in an interconnected world.

Cecilia Heyes is a senior research fellow in theoretical life sciences at All Souls College, University of Oxford, and the president of the Experimental Psychology Society. Her recent work, "Cognitive Gadgets: The Cultural Evolution of Thinking" (2018), highlights the profound impact of culture on our cognitive development. She divides her time between Oxford and London.

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