Core Configurations that Can Think, Learn and Create

Linnda Caporael
Science and Technology Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

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     Last modified: June 15, 2005
     Presentation date: 07/14/2005 11:00 AM in ROZH 105
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Abstract
The Evolution of Cultural Novelty II (Organizer: W. Wimsatt & K. Reismer)
Semi-session: Griesemer, Caporael, and Wimsatt on evolution and creativity in the socio-techno-cultural complex

The core configuration model is designed as an alternative to the "gene's eye view" in psychology. While people do pursue self interests, that pursuit is constrained and formed in important ways. As fundamentally social beings, humans are unable to reproduce and survive to reproductive age without living in face-to-face groups.

The model proposes a topography and set of constraints for hypothesizing the evolution of unique features of human cognition. Based on phylogenetic, morphological and ecological considerations, the model assumes that interactions of evolving hominids with their environments was likely more effective as a group process rather than an individual process. As "niches" within groups are limited, selection would result in the evolution of perceptual, affective and cognitive processes supporting the development and maintenance of group membership. The topography, or "demic structure" (Hull, 1988) of the selective environment for humans is based on a consideration of tasks necessary for survival and reproduction and on research about group size. The model consists of four configurations of increasing characteristic size-dyad (n=2), task group (n=5), deme (or band) (n=30), and macrodeme (or macroband) (n=300). A core configuration is the joint
function of group size and activity. Configurations provide a context for tasks or activities that are specific to that level of organization. That is, each group configuration affords functional possibilities and coordination problems not found at other levels. Core
configurations provide what becomes transformed into the particularly human socio-techno-cultural stage for Griesemer's reproductive perspective and Wimsatt's generative entrenchment, both of which are necessary for understanding human evolution at the phenotypic, cognitive, social, technological, and cultural levels.

This model hypothesizes that uniquely human mental systems are adapted to core configurations. Even today, humans are obligately interdependent-unable to reproduce and survive to reproductive age except in a group context. Core configurations are hypothesized to recur ontogenetically as a developmental system, in day-to-day life, and presumably in human evolutionary history. Once evolved, specialized functions of a
configuration may be combined with other functions, extended to novel domains of use, and technologically bridged. Core configurations and their psychological correlates may operate independently of the hierarchical structure in the model. This independence is especially characteristic of urban life where there may be multiple, cross-cutting groups, many assuming the functions of different demic structures. The adaptive advantages of small human groups are tied to the ability to coordinate action, to accumulate and transmit knowledge through generations, and to participate in cognitive systems that can think, learn and create.

Multiple Paper Session:
Other papers in this session:
When Does Cultural Selection Explain Cultural Novelty?
Cultural Variation and Epistemic Access
Constraints on Cultural Adaptation
Reproducers and the evolutionary development of culture
Generative Entrenchment and the scaffolding of individual development and social institutions