Culturology Helps Study Cultural Evolution (Science Is Lovable 70 of 72)

Culturology Helps Study Cultural Evolution (Science Is Lovable 70 of 72)

Stephen F. Ledoux
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For problems at the individual level, solutions reinforce the behaviors that produced them. Then the behaviors that solve problems serve as models for the behaviors of others that share the problems. That is, the occurrences of reinforcing solutions for some individuals function as evocative stimuli for the imitative solution behaviors of other individuals. When contingencies on the group make these solution practices become widespread across a group, they begin to affect the group as a group, often becoming socially institutionalized (e.g., formal education of individual group members).

Sciences Defined (Mysteries of Living 65 of 72)

Sciences Defined (Mysteries of Living 65 of 72)

Stephen F. Ledoux
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Several commentators (such as Lee McIntyre in his MIT–published 2006 book, Dark Ages—The Case for a Science of Human Behavior) have put forth calls for the development of a natural science of human behavior (like behaviorology). The difference between natural science and social science is relevant to understanding the place of those calls.

Tools and Methods Tackle Behavior Laws (Science Is Lovable 10 of 72)

Tools and Methods Tackle Behavior Laws (Science Is Lovable 10 of 72)

Stephen F. Ledoux
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So, how does the natural science of behavior make discoveries? How does it apply those discoveries to bring practical benefits to people? What experimental equipment and methods does it employ in its basic and applied research? The next several columns consider the answers to these questions in terms of the standard research equipment and procedures of both the classic behavior–research laboratory and the practical research for applied settings and interventions.