Selection favors learning mechanisms acquiring the locally favored behavior.

Evidence

In our model, a population is subdivided into a number of large subpopulations. Each subpopulation experiences one of two environmental states, labeled 1 and 2. Each individual also can acquire one of two behaviors, similarly labeled 1 and 2. Behavior 1 is favored (meaning it gives the individual a better chance of surviving) in environment 1 and behavior 2 is favored in environment 2. Thus, selection will favor learning mechanisms that make individuals more likely to acquire the favored behavior in the current environment. — Joe Henrich and Robert Boyd, The Evolution of Conformist…, 33

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Natural selection built cultural learning that can overwrite innate preferences — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 365; Selection favors conformist transmission in both spatially and temporally varying environments — Joe Henrich and Robert Boyd, The Evolution of Conformist…, 14; Individual learning from environmental cues does not always yield the adaptive behavior. — Joe Henrich and Robert Boyd, The Evolution of Conformist…, 35 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Human evolution selected for learnability and behavioral malleability, not fixedness #exemplifies (0.88)
• Humans were evolutionarily selected for learnability, not behavioral fixedness #exemplifies (0.88)
• Cumulative cultural evolution drives selection for brains specialized to acquire cultural information. #exemplifies (0.84) — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 218
• Individual learning from environmental cues does not always yield the adaptive behavior. #qualifies (0.78) — Joe Henrich and Robert Boyd, The Evolution of Conformist…, 35
• Conformist transmission evolves robustly across far more conditions than heavy social learning does #expands (0.78) — Joe Henrich and Robert Boyd, The Evolution of Conformist…, 65
• Conditional responses outperform probabilistic inflexible adaptations #corroborates (0.76)
• Darwinian views of brain imply selection oriented toward efficacy #expands (0.72) — Catherine Malabou, What Should We Do with Our Brain?, 216