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Group-level traits emerge

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2014

Paul E. Smaldino
Paul E. Smaldino*
Affiliation:
Center for Advanced Modeling in the Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21209. [email protected]://www.smaldino.com
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Abstract

Most commentators supported the thesis of the target article, though there were also those who were less fully persuaded. I will begin with a response to the most critical commentaries. First, I will justify an evolutionary perspective that includes group organization and nongenetic inheritance. Next, I will discuss the concept of emergence. Following that, I will transition to an exploration of ideas and concerns brought up by some of the more supportive commentators. This will include a discussion of different types of groups; the psychology of group-level traits; the uses and limitations of an institutional perspective; the link between transmission, adaptation, and selection; current and future methodologies; and the variety of fields that may benefit from a group-level traits perspective.

Type
Author's Response
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 37 , Issue 3 , June 2014 , pp. 281 - 295
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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