People increasingly rely on copying successful others as problems grow harder or more uncertain

Evidence

The central finding of this experiment, that people are inclined to copy more successful others, has been repeatedly observed in an immense variety of domains, both in controlled laboratory conditions and in real-world patterns. … In experiments, undergraduates rely on success-biased learning when real money is on the line—when they are paid for correct answers or superior performance. In fact, the more challenging the problem or the greater the uncertainty, the more inclined people are to rely on cultural learning, as predicted by evolutionary models. This tells us something about when individuals will rely on cultural learning over their own direct experience or intuitions. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 155

Categorization

• QUESTION: Reader’s goal is whether conformist bias (copying the majority, not just the successful) follows a developmental timeline. This passage covers success bias, the other key social-learning bias—worth checking whether Henrich gives conformist bias a comparable difficulty/uncertainty trigger.
• XREF: Connects to the reader’s coercion-vulnerability framework: contexts of high uncertainty may make individuals lean on copying the successful, which is distinct from copying the majority. — connects to: Once cultural knowledge accumulates, individuals cannot invent better traits than they can copy — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 205; Humans copy spontaneously and automatically far more than chimpanzees do. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 100; People adopt change when relatable models demonstrate it succeeds — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 2822

Broader Connections

• Once cultural knowledge accumulates, individuals cannot invent better traits than they can copy #corroborates (0.88) — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 205
• People adopt change when relatable models demonstrate it succeeds #exemplifies (0.82) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2822
• Humans copy spontaneously and automatically far more than chimpanzees do. #expands (0.74) — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 100