Computing and Information Systems - Theses
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ItemTowards computational models of cultural dynamics based on the grounding model of cultural transmission( 2012)The subject of this thesis is the computational modeling of the transmission of cultural information and of the resulting emergent cultural dynamics---the formation, maintenance, and change of culture. The main premise is that this subject requires a two-component research program: (1) the detailed study of the transmission of cultural information during social interactions, and (2) an uptake of these results to analyze the emerging phenomena at the level of societies. We adopt the view that computational modeling is a particularly promising tool for addressing the second component, while it can also support fields such as psychology and cognitive science in addressing the first component. The reasons for this are that computational models offer (1) an appropriate language for precisely describing mechanisms at all relevant levels of analysis (i.e. intra-personal, inter-personal, and societal-level mechanisms) and (2) a promising opportunity to consider all of these levels simultaneously. The consequence is that computational models can contribute to a refinement of the models or theories they represent, and they can be used to rigorously explore the implications of these models or theories on varying scales. We rely on the social-psychological grounding model of cultural transmission, which provides a detailed model of cultural transmission during social interactions, in constructing computational models of cultural transmission and dynamics. The research questions we address are (1) how can the grounding model of cultural transmission be translated into computational models of cultural transmission and dynamics, and (2) how can these computational models contribute to the refinement of the grounding model of cultural transmission and to the understanding of cultural dynamics. The contribution towards the first research question is a series of computational models of cultural transmission and dynamics based on the grounding model of cultural transmission. The contribution towards the second question is an analysis of each of these models with respect to its refinement of the grounding model of cultural transmission and its contribution to the understanding of cultural dynamics. The models we introduce and discuss are, in particular, (1) a model of the co-evolution of cultures, social networks, and geographical locations, (2) a model of the communication of stereotype-relevant information, considering that stereotypes are a particular type of cultural information, (3) a detailed semi-formal model of the grounding model of cultural transmission, and (4) an architecture of joint action which accounts for empirically observed phenomena relevant to cultural transmission.