Slow But Motivated: Social Learning in Open-ended Intellectual Innovation
Abstract
Social learning is known for preserving existing cultural designs, but is it also important for generating novel, effective solutions? Building on theoretical and empirical work, we identify intellectual innovation as a knowledge-based form of innovation that has been largely overlooked and examine how social learning shapes it. We introduce a riddle-crafting paradigm combined with a closed diffusion-chain design, enabling open-ended creation, multidimensional measurement, and quantifiable performance. In Experiment 1, participants in social and asocial chains composed and refined riddles distinguishing poisonous from edible mushrooms; in Experiment 2, independent participants attempted to solve them. Although the two modes showed comparable objective solvability, social riddles were more efficient and diverse in form and content. Social participants also showed greater motivation to improve, with hints of incremental gains that may emerge more fully over extended generations. Therefore, socially transmitted intellectual innovations become better tailored for communication, open to mutation, and poised for cumulative refinement.