Chapter 3

Biology and culture

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Learning Objective
At the end of this chapter, students are able to:

1. Describe the biological mapping of culture, evolution and adaptation

2. Describe the behavior genetics and ethology

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1.1 Biological mapping of culture
 Cultural mapping
 a process to identify and
document the cultural resources
or assets of a community.
 Across the country, more and more
communities are turning to cultural
mapping as an important new tool to
support economic development and
to enrich the quality of life in our
communities.

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1.2 Cultural evolution
 Cultural evolution
 an evolutionary theory of social change.
 It follows from the definition of culture as "information capable of affecting
individuals' behavior that they acquire from other members of their species
through teaching, imitation and other forms of social transmission".
 The core idea of cultural evolution is that cultural change constitutes an
evolutionary process that shares fundamental similarities with – but also differs
in key ways from – genetic evolution. As such, human behavior is shaped by
both genetic and cultural evolution.

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1.3 Cultural adaptation
 Cultural adaptation
 the process and time it takes a person to
integrate into a new culture and feel
comfortable within it.
 A person in this position may encounter a wide
array of emotions that the theory describes in
four different stages.
 This includes the honeymoon, culture shock,
recovery, and adjustment stages.
 For example
 Entering college
 New neighbor
 Marriage
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2.1 Behavior genetics and ethology
 Ethology (human)
 the scientific and objective study of animal (human) behaviour, usually with
a focus on behaviour under natural conditions, and viewing behaviour as an
evolutionarily adaptive trait.
 A cultural ethology is given a possible theoretical foundation, and current
attempts at a cultural ethology are appraised.

 Genetics 
 involves the study of how genetic make up of a person influence its physical
and behavioral characteristics.
 are the principle of heredity which is the sum of the traits and tendencies
inherited from one's parents and other biological ancestors.

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2.1 Behavior genetics and ethology
 What is the relationship between
genetics and behavior?
 The relationship between your
genes and behavior
can change over time as you
have new experiences.
 In some situations, genes play a
larger role in determining your
behavior; in other situations,
environment plays a larger role
in influencing your behavior.

 Concept of Nature vs Nurture

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Thank you

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