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Evolutionary Decomposition and the Mechanisms of Cultural Change
- Author(s): Beheim, Bret A
- Baldini, Ryan
- et al.
Published Web Location
https://doi.org/10.21237/C7clio3212123Abstract
Beginning with the Price equation, recent work has developed the method of evolutionary decomposition, an exact partitioning of mean phenotypic change into underlying demographic processes. We present a method of evolutionary decomposition for human cultural change, and a demonstration of this method on three centuries of half-decadal census records collected from a simulated island population. By decomposing phenotypic trajectories, we can develop and evaluate suitable hypotheses of the driving mechanisms of cultural evolution.