Conformist transmission is favored only when some migration exists.

Evidence

As the migration rate approaches zero, the equilibrium value of D declines more rapidly. Figure 5 compares the effect of a zero migration rate (m 5 0) with the effect of m 5 0.02 on the evolution of conformist transmission and the reliance on social learning for increasing values of r. While the L curve is similar in both figures, the conformist curve for m 5 0 reveals that, without some small amount of migration (m 5 0.02), D does not maintain an equilibrium near its maximum value of 1. Conformist transmission allows immigrants to readily learn the most adaptive behavior for the current environment. When there is no migration, conformist transmission is not much better than unbiased imitation because most people are behaving correctly. However, even when m is as small as 0.02, the entire subpopulation is replaced every 50 generations, and, therefore, conformist transmission is useful. — Joe Henrich and Robert Boyd, The Evolution of Conformist…, 86

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s interest in the selection-based conditions preceding coercion-vulnerability: conformity’s adaptive payoff hinges on migration replenishing maladapted behavior. — connects to: Conformist transmission evolves robustly across far more conditions than heavy social learning does — Joe Henrich and Robert Boyd, The Evolution of Conformist…, 65; Identical environments can require a century to erase distinct cultures.; Conformist transmission is triggered by difficulty, uncertainty, and stakes (+2 more)

Related

• Migration among subpopulations weakens reliance on social learning but barely affects conformist transmission strength. (similarity 0.90)
• Conformist transmission evolves robustly across far more conditions than heavy social learning does (similarity 0.88)
• Conformist bias evolution requires less environmental stability than social learning evolution itself. (similarity 0.86)
• Natural selection favors conformist transmission under a wide range of conditions, including fluctuating environments. (similarity 0.86)
• Conformist transmission means copying the commonest behavior more than its frequency warrants (similarity 0.86)
• Conformist transmission increases behavioral adoption odds above population frequency. (similarity 0.86)
• Evolutionary selection robustly favors copying the majority even when environments shift often. (similarity 0.85)
• Conformist transmission is favored across a broader range of conditions than mere social learning. (similarity 0.84)
• No flexible-learning scenario eliminates the adaptive need for conformity. (similarity 0.84)
• Conformist transmission occurs across many social-learning species. (similarity 0.84)
• Conformist transmission stays strong even when environmental cues are highly accurate or uninformative. (similarity 0.83)
• Selection favors conformist transmission in both spatially and temporally varying environments (similarity 0.83)
• Conformist transmission biases learners toward adopting a population’s most frequent cultural traits. (similarity 0.82)
• Conformist transmission amplifies majority traits toward fixation across generations. (similarity 0.81)
• Conformist transmission strength is a tunable model parameter. (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• Conformist transmission is triggered by difficulty, uncertainty, and stakes #expands (0.82)
• Conformist transmission occurs across many social-learning species. #qualifies (0.80) — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 1122