The refinement paradox and cumulative cultural evolution: Complex products of collective improvement favor conformist outcomes, blind copying, and hyper-credulity
Fig 4
(A) and (B). Predicted scores from a linear mixed model accounting for between-entry variation, using Stage 1 data, for (A) all entries, and (B) top-ten entries, that did and did not play REFINE, in refined compared to non-refined environments (Tables B and C in S1 Supporting Information). Top-ten entries used refinement strategically, achieving higher scores, and constructing maximally refined environments beneficial to all. (Circles indicate entry means and diamonds show group means, as predicted by the model. Environments were defined as refined when a population reached the highest refinement level). (C) Relative fitness of ‘clever’ REFINE entries over a blind copier (OBSERVE-once-then-EXPLOIT-forever; see Materials and methods for details). ‘Clever’ entries had the advantage at low refinement levels, but were vulnerable to invasion at higher refinement levels.