Free Culturant: A Software for the Experimental Study of Behavioral and Cultural Selection

We describe a software program that was developed to study cultural selection using a procedure that is analogous to the free operant. The experimental manipulations allow the use of individual behavioral patterns that are produced by classic schedules of reinforcement to be used as a baseline for experimental demands that are related to social behavior. Two to 4 participants can work simultaneously on the experimental task. Responses on a single manipulandum can lead to different consequences for individual behavior and for participants' coordinated, interlocking behaviors. The software is called "Free Culturant" because participants can emit responses at any time, without intervention from the apparatus or experimenter, and it can assess the selection of cultural units that are composed of sets of interlocking behavioral contingencies that generate a common consequence. We present a pilot study and discuss the software's contributions to advancements in cultural evolution research.