Group size and cultural complexity

Arising from M. Derex, M.-P. Beugin, B. Godelle & M. Raymond 503, 389–391 10.1038/nature12774 (2013)A decade ago, Henrich proposed group size as a driver of cultural complexity. Derex et al. now present experimental results they say support this ‘group size hypothesis’ by seemingly showing that larger groups perform better than smaller groups under imitation-based cultural evolution. Our reanalysis of their experimental data, however, shows that larger groups actually perform worse than smaller groups. Thus, contrary to their claim, their data are consistent with empirical evidence discounting the group size hypothesis for non-food producing societies. There is a Reply to this Brief Communication Arising by Derex, M. et al. Nature 511, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature13412 (2014).

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