The accumulation of intelligence in societies via cumulative cultural evolution

In this talk I will discuss how knowledge and skills can accumulate over generations within populations, a phenomenon described as cumulative cultural evolution. Cumulative cultural evolution is proposed to underpin many of the behavioural characteristics of modern humans. I will also discuss how this phenomenon can be studied under laboratory conditions, and how those experiments can provide insights into the mechanisms by which beneficial discoveries can be retained and even built upon, in spite of continual population turnover.