Transitions to democracy are most often considered the outcome of historical modernization processes. Socio-economic changes, such as increases in per capita GNP, education levels, urbanization and communication, have traditionally been found to be correlates or 'requisites' of democratic reform. However, transition times and the number of reform steps have not been studied comprehensively. Her...

Social comparison theory maintains that people think about themselves compared with similar others. Those in one culture, then, compare themselves with different others and standards than do those in another culture, thus potentially confounding cross-cultural comparisons. A pilot study and Study 1 demonstrated the problematic nature of this reference-group effect: Whereas cultural experts agre...

The paper describes how a formal model of selfadaptation [Angeline, 1995] can be expressed in terms of Cultural Algorithms. A particular form of self-adaptation concerns the shifting of the representational bias used to described the set of learned beliefs within the Cultural Algorthms. A version of Cultural Algorithms with the ability to shift its representational bias was used to solve the Ro...

Several authors have argued that a range of phenomena calls for a relativisation of propositional truth to contexts of assessment or, more generally, perspectives. I want to defend the more orthodox view that whether a proposition is true depends only on whether the represented states of affairs obtain. I offer an alternative account of the relativity suggested by the data, factual relativism, ...

Robustness versus resilience of systems is first defined. The definition is applied to the material and cultural adaptive system of the Netsilik Inuit. Three structural conflicts and their resolution through cultural practices are delineated. The importance of system monitoring is discussed, especially with regard to the cultural system.

Every individual has behaviours, beliefs, and values which are different from the behaviours, beliefs, and values of other individuals. However, if individuals interact with each other there will be a tendency for their behaviours, beliefs, and values to become more similar because of imitation, teaching, and social learning. A group of individuals interacting with each other will tend to have ...

In this new book, Richard Hingley, a prominent scholar of Roman imperialism, offers an extended discussion of the nature of cultural change in the Roman world, with a particular focus on the age of Augustus. Hingley, an archaeologist who acknowledges his indebtedness to postmodern theory throughout his work, in part aims to connect the kindred topics of Romanization and Roman imperialism to the...

BACKGROUND Effective feedback may be defined as feedback in which information about previous performance is used to promote positive and desirable development. This can be challenging as educators must acknowledge the psychosocial needs of the recipient while ensuring that feedback is both honest and accurate. Current feedback models remain reductionist in their approach. They are embedded in t...

I wish to show, by means of two examples, that it is sometimes possible for the psychoanalyst to formulate, and even to forecast, the circumstances and modalities in which important personality traits deteriorate under the impact of cultural change. The first example is taken from the Dogon people of the Mali Republic, known to us through the works of Griaule, Dieterlen and others. They are hea...

This article explains how natural selection works and how it has been inappropriately applied to the description of cultural change. It proposes an alternative evolutionary explanation for cultural evolution that describes it in terms of communal exchange. When science is explained to the general public it is necessary to simplify. Inevitably details get left out, details that some consider imp...