What separates modern humans from our primate cousins--are we a mere blink in the march of evolution, or does human culture represent the definitive evolutionary turn? Dwight Read explores the dilemma in this engaging, thought-provoking book, taking readers through an evolutionary odyssey from our primate beginnings through the development of culture and social organization. He assesses the two major trends in this field: one that sees us as a logical culmination of primate evolution, arguing that the rudiments of culture exist in primates and even magpies, and another that views the human...

How culture is incorporated into individuals' lives is a problem that has plagued the social sciences for centuries. This book examines the insights offered by approaching the question using a cognitive theory of culture.

Culture and the Individual pulls together more than twenty-five years of research on cultural consonance, defined as the degree to which individuals incorporate into their own beliefs and behaviors the prototypes for belief and behavior encoded in shared cultural models. Starting with a critical overview of the treatment of culture and the individual in...

How culture is incorporated into individuals' lives is a problem that has plagued the social sciences for centuries. This book examines the insights offered by approaching the question using a cognitive theory of culture.

Culture and the Individual pulls together more than twenty-five years of research on cultural consonance, defined as the degree to which individuals incorporate into their own beliefs and behaviors the prototypes for belief and behavior encoded in shared cultural models. Starting with a critical overview of the treatment of culture and the individual in...