Toward a Selectionist Framework for Behavioral and Cultural Selection

AILUN – Lecture 5Sigrid Glenn

Selection in Three Domains• Organic (Phylogenic ) selection – Contingencies of natural

selection account for origin and evolution of species and relations among them (locus: Earth)1

• Operant (Ontogenic) selection – Contingencies of reinforcement account for origin and evolution of operants and complex relations among them (locus: repertoires of individual organism)1

• Cultural (Sociogenic) selection – Contingencies of cultural selection account for origin and evolution of complex cultural level entities and the relations among them (locus: socio-economic entities functioning as coherent wholes – “cultures”)2

Selectionist Theories of Cultural Evolution • Variations of proposed models virtually always leave out the role

of operant behavior and operant selection• The unit of selection at the cultural level is not identified• Elements in the systems suggested are not specified• There is a strong tendency to view the site of retention in cultural

selection as gene lineages or brains• There is a strong tendency to view natural selection as the

mechanism accounting for cultureBr

ains

Natural Selection

A Behaviorist PerspectiveNervous Systems

Culturo-behavioralLineages (embedded in IBCs)

• Operant processes as the product of natural selection• Operant behavior as product of operant processes plus the particulars of operant contingencies • Operant behavior as platform for emergence of “cultural things”• Units of selection at cultural level always involve operant behavior and sometimes involve organized “cultural things” that can undergo selection of a third kind

Natural selection Operant selection Cultural selection

Operant Selection, Social Behavior & Social Learning

• Operant selection accounts for most social as well as non-social behavior of humans

• Social behavior – Defined: Behavior for which the behavior of others functions as environment

in contingencies of reinforcement • Social behavior is embedded in interlocking contingencies

– Distinguished as “social” by content of elements in the contingencies • The environment that is “operated on” is the behavior of someone else and/OR• Someone else’s behavior functions as discriminative stimulus, reinforcer,

etc• Verbal behavior is a major component of social behavior in humans• Humans possibly highly susceptible to social stimulation

• Social learning3

– Defined: Behavior acquired as a result of social interaction– No new process required to explain social behavior or social learning

From Learned Social Behavior to Cultural Organization

• Interlocking behavioral contingencies (IBC) are the smallest supra-organismic individual

• Behavior acquired by learners participating in IBC may never participate in those IBC again (ex: once taught to read, learner can read without teacher functioning as environment)

• Behavior acquired by learners participating in IBC may occur in other IBC (ex: reader can respond in class to what she has read)

• Patterns of IBC can be transmitted to many behavers in short time– Resulting in homogeneity of behavior across many people– Resulting in homogeneity of interlocking behavioral

contingencies in groups

From Learned Social Behavior to Cultural Organization

• Behavior acquired by learners participating in IBC may become part of recurring IBCs (ex: Once 2 people learn independently to sail, they may sail a boat together – cooperatively)

• Successive replications of IBC across repertoires constitute a culturo-behavioral lineage

• Repetition of IBC sequences involving the same people can be expanded to include the behavior of additional people and increasing “division of labor” in accomplishing an outcome

• IBCs can become complex and become hierarchically related – Larger units subsume many smaller units– Larger and smaller units participate in their own contingencies

 Nested Interlocking Behavioral Contingencies in Complex Cultural

Entities4

Organisms Tom & Marta[and manyothers]

Cultural Lineages(Recurring Interlocking

BehavioralContingencies)Elements of Each Recurrence

Cook mealsMany behaviors of each O have function for the operant behavior of

the other O(s)

Operate a restaurant

T & M cook mealsT & M hire and manage wait staff Wait staff serve dinersDiners order and pay for meals

Operate a chain of restaurants

Operate restaurants (multiple actors)Additional interlocking behavioral

contingencies involved in training, advertising, etc.

Recap of Elements of Behavior Analytic Selectionist Framework

• Behavior occurs at locus of individual organism• Relations between behavior and environment are the

subject matter• Environment includes both physical and social events• Unit of analysis is contingencies of behavioral selection

(reinforcement/extinction)• Behavioral level units (operants) have origins in

contingencies of reinforcement • Repertoire of a particular organism includes many

operants

From Operant Contingencies to Cultural Contingencies of Selection• Extends the behavior analytic perspective to cultural selection• Cultural selection defined as selection of coherent wholes

involving the behavior of 2 or more people– Coordinated behavior of multiple individuals occurs at locus of

interlocking behavioral contingencies– Relations between IBCs and their environment are the subject

matter– Environment includes physical and social events– Unit of analysis is metacontingencies (selection/deselection)– Cultural level units have origin in cultural level selection

contingencies – Phenomena constituting a particular culture includes many

behavioral units and many cultural level units

IF it is demonstrated that the behavioral contingency results in increased frequency of lever presses, then

1) The lineage of recurring lever presses is an operant 2) The behavioral contingency is a functional (operant) contingency 3) The external environment is selecting for lever presses that have the effect of

closing the switch (e.g.. lever presses with force values > x)

Recurring lever presses

All other behavior

Switch Closures

Movements in relation to the environment (lever)

Effect on environment (part of the behavioral definition)

Food Pellet

Contingent action of external environment

Operant Consequence

Behavioral Contingency

Operant Selection Contingencies as Model

A Cultural Analog of Operant Contingencies

• Operant behaviors of 2 or more people are related to one another in a particular pattern (interlocking behavioral contingencies - IBCs)– We fish together, you operating the net and I maneuvering the boat

and being lookout for you (our movement/effects function as SDs and Sr+ for 1 another)

• IBCs (the pattern of interrelated operant contingencies) can recur – We fish together in the same way many times

• The IBCs can result in a product that is the effect of the IBCs– Our coordinated fishing operants net 100 fish (analogous to switch

closure as effect of lever pressing)• The environment external to the IBCs provides consequences contingent on

the product (establishes a cultural contingency)– People on shore give us money for fish we can’t eat

• The cultural contingency between (1) IBCs/their resulting product and (2) action by the external environment can function to maintain recurrences of the IBCs that result in the product)

CulturalConsequence

IF it is demonstrated that the cultural contingency results in increased frequency of IBCs having the specified operants and interlocks

1) The lineage of recurring IBCs is a culturant (named by Chad Hunter) 2) The cultural contingency is a functional metacontingency 3) The external environment selects for features of IBCs that result in fish

Metacontingency

Recurring IBCs(Specified operants and interlocks)

All other operants/interlocks

Behavior of 2 or more people

Effect on environment: Cultural Product

Buyers pay for fish

Action of external environment

CulturantSurplusFish

Schematic of Metacontingency

Summary• Operant social behavior is the content that links

biological evolution to cultural evolution• Social transmission of learned behavior requires

interlocking behavioral contingencies (IBC)• Learned social behavior forms the basis of

cultural organization• Complex cultural organization comprises

hierarchies of IBC• Recurring IBC may be selected by an external

environment

References 51 Skinner, B. F. (1981). Selection by consequences. Science, 213, 501-504.2 Glenn, S. S. (2003). Operant contingencies and the origin of cultures. In

K.A. Lattal & P. N. Chase (Eds). Behavior Theory and Philosophy. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum.

3 Galef, B. G., Jr. (1988). Imitation in animals: History, definition and interpretation of data from the psychological laboratory. In T. R. Zentall & B. G. Galef, Jr. (Eds). Social Learning: Psychological and Biological Perspectives. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

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