Origin and Evolution of Cultural Level Organization

AILUN – Lecture 6

Adapted from Glenn, S. S. (2004). Individual Behavior, culture, and social change. The Behavior Analyst, 27, 133-151

Culture •

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• ’

•

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– –

Cultural Practices • Defined: similar patterns of behavioral content, usually maintained

by similar environmental content • Examples

– Twiggy hair style– Driving stick-shift automobiles– Presenting professional papers

• Point of transmission may be a single link between behavior of transmittor and transmittee – Hair stylist A may create style pictured in a magazine (or in

person) and other hair stylists produce a similar result, which may be repeated many times

– Hair stylist A demonstrates styling hair and stylist B imitates A’s activities, producing a similar result (B repeats many times with many patrons)

Cumulative Effect of Cultural Practices

Examples

• Smoking – contributes to illnesses, increases public health cost

• Dumping waste in waterways – kills wildlife, causes illness• Running air conditioners – affects ozone layer, increases

incidence of skin cancer• Driving cars – depletes fossil fuel reserves, drives up cost of

gasoline

Macrocontingencies1

• Defined: Patterns of similar behavior (cultural practice) and their cumulative effects

• Example P1 drive to work 1 ltr gasoline P2 drive to work .5 ltr gasoline Cumulative effect P3 drive to work .3 ltr gasoline 2 ltr/1 day/1 way P4 drive to work .2 ltr gasoline 1000 ltr annually

• No need for cultural level selection to explain the behavior or the cumulative effect: behavioral principles are sufficient

Engineering Change in Macrocontingencies

• Arrange environment to bring about change in behavior of many individuals – Implement reinforcement contingencies for car pooling (HOV

lanes) – Implement punishment contingencies for consumption

(higher price) – Social approval of conservation gradually becomes common

P1 – drives to work,taking P2, P3, P4P2 – rides with P1 1.5 gal

1way/1dayP3 – rides with P1 750 gal annuallyP4 – rides with P1

Recurring Interlocking

Behavioral Contingencies • In repetitions of a particular situation, Person A’s behavior

repeatedly constitutes the environmental events participating in Person’s B’s operant contingencies and vice versa

• Example: Marta and Todd regularly cook meals together o The repeating pattern of interlocking behavior for each

twosome is maintained by the outcome of interlocking behavioral contingencies for that twosome

o Each twosome’s interlocking behavioral contingencies constitutes a cultural lineage

o Each time the pattern is instantiated it produces an outcome

o The outcomes (meals) may serve as back-up reinforcers for all the behaviors of each actor and it may also serve to maintain the pattern of interlocking contingencies

o This repeating pattern is a cultural practice if different actors independently participate in a similar repeating pattern of interlocking behavioral contingencies (Jim and Sam also regularly cook meals together, as do Jordan and Linda and many other twosomes)

Selection in the Evolution of Cultural Organization

• Level of analysis: interrelated behavior of two or more organisms

• Schematic representation of cultural level contingencies of selection (metacontingencies)

Organisms O, O’, O’’Situation S ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Environment IBC1 IBC2 IBC1 IBC3 IBC1 IBC1 IBC4 IBC5 IBC1 Iterations C1 C1 C1 C1 C1 Environment

Interlocking Behavioral Contingencies 1

• All IBC1 recurrences constitute a particular cultural lineage

Metacontingencies• Defined: Temporal relations between recurring

interlocking behavioral contingencies and their consequent environment that account for frequency, form, or other properties of the lineage of recurring interlocking behavioral contingencies

• Example: Relation between Tom and Marta’s pattern of interlocking behavior and the resulting meals accounts for adjustments in the pattern– Operant contingencies are embedded in the

cultural entities that participate in metacontingencies

– Interlocking behavioral contingencies may be hierarchically nested as cultural organization becomes more complex

Engineering Change in Metacontingencies

• Identify the interlocking behavioral contingencies that produce an aggregate outcome

• Change the metacontingency so that alternative interlocking behavioral contingencies are selected

• Change the behavioral contingencies embedded in the interlocking behavioral contingencies to produce a change in aggregate outcome

Schematic of Cultural Level Intervention• Problem: High frequency of pedestrian casualties in Brasilia– Cross wide streets with fast traffic, not in crosswoaks– Drivers not yielding to pedestrians

• Problem is cultural antecedent for IBC formation • Participants in IBCs repeatedly produce an aggregate product:

activity designed to change behavioral contingencies for drivers

• The aggregate product leads to a change in operant contingencies for drivers and pedestrians

• The change in operant contingencies results in lower frequency of pedestrian casualties

• Lower frequency of pedestrian casualties functions as cultural consequence maintaining IBCs

Smaller number oftraffic injuries(running over)

CP1

A

A

AA

CP2

W

W

WW

Metacontingency

Macrocontingency

Similar driverOperants &pedestrian O’s

Cumulativeculturalproduct

Interlockingbehavioralcontingencies

AggregateProduct

CP3

Z

ZZ

CP4

Y

Y

YY

Z

Traffic Dep. and product

Church and product

Media and product

Police and product

Brasília University and product

CP1- Not respecting crosswalk (drivers) CP3- Respecting crosswalk (drivers) (drivers)CP2- Crossing outside of the crosswalk (pedestrians) CP4- Crossing inside of the crosswalk (pedestrians)

Macrocontingency

Large number of pedestrian

injuries

Cultural consequence(Maintains IBCs)

Next:Experimental Analysis of Cultural Selection