RT Article
T1 Modeling Cultural Transmission of Rituals in Silico: The Advantages and Pitfalls of Agent-Based vs. System Dynamics Models
JF Journal of cognition and culture
VO 18
IS 5
SP 483
OP 507
A1 Kaše, Vojtech
A1 Pospíšil, Zdenek
A1 Hampejs, Tomáš
A2 Pospíšil, Zdenek
A2 Hampejs, Tomáš
LA English
YR 2018
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1684616182
AB This article introduces an agent-based and a system-dynamics model investigating the cultural transmission of frequent collective rituals. It focuses on social function and cognitive attraction as independently affecting transmission. The models focus on the historical context of early Christian meals, where various theoretically inspiring trends in cultural transmission of rituals can be observed. The primary purpose of the article is to contribute to theorizing about cultural transmission of rituals by suggesting a clear operationalization of their social function and cognitive attraction. Furthermore, the article challenges recent trends in the field by providing a theoretically feasible model for how, under certain conditions, cognitive attraction can influence the transmission to a relatively greater extent than social function. In the system dynamics model we reproduce the results of our agent-based model while putting some of our basic operational assumptions under scrutiny. We consider approaching social function and cognitive attraction in isolation as a preliminary but necessary step in the process of creating more complex models of the cultural selection of rituals, where the two aspects will be combined to produce ritual forms with greater correspondence to real-world religious rituals.
K1 agent-based model
K1 cognitive attraction
K1 Cultural Transmission
K1 Ritual
K1 social function
K1 system dynamics model
DO 10.1163/15685373-12340041