What Cultural Primatology Can Tell Anthropologists About the Evolution of Culture

Posted: 9 Jan 2008

See all articles by Susan E. Perry

Susan E. Perry

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - Department of Anthropology

Abstract

This review traces the development of the field of cultural primatology from its origins in Japan in the 1950s to the present. The field has experienced a number of theoretical and methodological influences from diverse fields, including comparative experimental psychology, Freudian psychoanalysis, behavioral ecology, cultural anthropology, and gene-culture coevolution theory. Our understanding of cultural dynamics and the evolution of culture cannot be complete without comparative studies of (a) how socioecological variables affect cultural transmission dynamics, (b) the proximate mechanisms by which social learning is achieved, (c) developmental studies of the role of social influence in acquiring behavioral traits, and (d) the fitness consequences of engaging in social learning.

Keywords: social learning, cultural transmission, traditions, primates

Suggested Citation

Perry, Susan E., What Cultural Primatology Can Tell Anthropologists About the Evolution of Culture. Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 35, October 2006, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1081380

Susan E. Perry (Contact Author)

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - Department of Anthropology ( email )

Los Angeles, CA 90095-1553
United States

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