Yasha Hartberg

Texas A&M University, Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Faculty Member

Binghamton University, Biological Sciences, Alumnus

Followers

71,700

Following

181

Co-authors

Public Views

I am an evolutionary biologist broadly interested in cultural inheritance systems. Specifically, my work has focused on the idea of cultural genomes, repositories of cultural information that can be differentially accessed and interpreted by groups in order to respond adaptively to changing social and environmental conditions. These repositories can take many forms ranging from institutional arrangements for the sustainable management of natural resources to sacred texts that support the beliefs, behaviors, and practices of religious communities.
Supervisors: David Sloan Wilson
Phone: (979) 458-7816
Address: Veterinary Integrative Biosciences
Texas A&M University
TAMU 4458
College Station, TX 77843-4458

less

Johannes Zachhuber

University of Oxford

Judith L Green

University of California, Santa Barbara

James Elkins

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Andreas Umland

National University of "Kyiv-Mohyla Academy"

Don Ross

University College Cork

Kristen J Gremillion

Ohio State University

Martin van Bruinessen

Universiteit Utrecht

Marc Champagne

Kwantlen Polytechnic University

Armando Marques-Guedes

UNL - New University of Lisbon

Gwen Robbins Schug

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

InterestsView All (18)

Uploads

Papers by Yasha Hartberg

Writing as Business

In this lecture, students learn a little about how writing can become a lucrative and satisfying ... more

Download

Triangulation Paper Writing Prompt

The capstone project in VIBS 658 asks students to choose a topic relevant to journalism or commun... more The capstone project in VIBS 658 asks students to choose a topic relevant to journalism or communication that has been researched using several methodologies. Students are to choose three primary research articles, explaining the findings of each one, how those findings were limited by the methodology chosen, and how those findings made up for deficiencies in the methodologies from the other studies

VIBS 310 Week 4: Structure of Story and Journal Articles

In this learning module, students are introduced to the structure of story. That serves as a foun... more In this learning module, students are introduced to the structure of story. That serves as a foundation for understanding the structure of journal articles. In addition to videos explaining these concepts, students are also given two discussion prompts based on assigned readings. Finally, they are introduced to their first peer review assignment of the semester

VIBS 310 Course Syllabus, Fall 2019

This is the fall 2019 syllabus for VIBS 310: Biomedical Writing

How a Scientific Study Becomes a Paper

These are lecture notes for the final session in VIBS 310. In it, I cover the complex process by ... more

Assuaging the doubts of Thomas: the need for robustness in the institution of supernatural punishment

Religion, brain and behavior, Jun 29, 2017

environments: An agent-based model of foraging behavior. Göttinger Freilandtage. Deutsches Primat... more environments: An agent-based model of foraging behavior. Göttinger Freilandtage. Deutsches Primatenzentrum, Leibniz-Institut für Primatenforschung, Göttingen, Germany. Chwe, M. S.-Y. (2001). Rational ritual. Culture, coordination, and common knowledge. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Cronk, L. (2007). The influence of cultural framing on play in the trust game: A Maasai example. Evolution and Human Behavior, 28, 352–358. Cronk, L. (2015). “Neighboring”: A preliminary look at generosity and mutual aid among ranchers in the American Southwest. http://humangenerosity.org Cronk, L. (2017). Culture’s influence on behavior: Steps toward a theory. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, 11(1), 36–52. Cronk, L., &Wasielewski, H. (2008). An unfamiliar social norm rapidly produces framing effects in an economic game. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, 6(4), 283–308. Cronk, L., & Leech, B. L. (2013). Meeting at Grand Central: Understanding the social and evolutionary roots of cooperation. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Gmelch, G. (1971). Baseball magic. Society, 8(8), 39–41. Gmelch, G. (1992). Superstition and ritual in American baseball. Elysian Fields Quarterly, 11(3), 25–36. Hao, Y., Aktipis, C. A., Armbruster, D., & Cronk, L. (2015). Need-based transfers on a network: A model of risk-pooling in ecologically volatile environments. Evolution and Human Behavior, 36(4), 265–273. Malinowski, B. (1922). Argonauts of the Western Pacific. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Roberts, G. (2005). Cooperation through interdependence. Animal Behaviour, 70(4), 901–908. Tomasello, M. (2009). Why we cooperate. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

VIBS 310 Week 5: What is a Literature Review?

This week's activities introduce students to literature reviews. The video asks students to i... more This week's activities introduce students to literature reviews. The video asks students to imagine the scientific understanding of the world before the classic Avery, MacLeod, and McCarty experiment demonstrated that DNA was most likely the genetic material. Through explaining the model Avery, MacLeod, and McCarty were starting with and their research question, the video generalizes to the structure of literature reviews more generally. Students practice describing models and identifying research questions through group discussion activities

VIBS 311, Biomedical Explorations through Narrative, Syllabus-Spring 2020

This is the spring syllabus for VIBS 311, Biomedical Explorations Through Narrative. This is a cr... more

VIBS 310 Week 3: Scientific Abstracts and Information Overload

Note that neither the abstracts used by students in the discussion exercise nor the research arti... more Note that neither the abstracts used by students in the discussion exercise nor the research articles students use to write their abstracts are included in this package. This is, in part, to avoid copyright complications and, in part, because these materials change every semester. Any abstracts or published research articles could be substituted.In this learning module, students learn what abstracts are and why they're so important to scientific discourse. They also practice identifying different parts of abstracts as part of a group exercise. Finally, they practice writing abstracts, submitting a rough draft of an abstract they write for a scientific article that was previously published without an abstract

VIBS 311 Course Syllabus, Fall 2019

This is the fall 2019 syllabus for VIBS 311: Biomedical Explorations through Narrative

What is Writing

In this lecture, students are asked the question, what is writing? This lecture explores multiple... more

VIBS 310, Biomedical Writing, Syllabus-Spring 2020

This is the spring 2020 syllabus for VIBS 310-Biomedical Writing. As the name suggests, this is a... more

Influences of Large State Research University on Student Religious Beliefs and Practices*

Religion & Education, May 4, 2018

Download

Faux mutagenesis: Teaching troubleshooting through controlled failure

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 2006

By shifting pedagogical goals from obtaining successful mutations to teaching students critical t... more By shifting pedagogical goals from obtaining successful mutations to teaching students critical troubleshooting skills, it has been possible to introduce site-directed mutagenesis into an undergraduate teaching laboratory. Described in this study is an inexpensive laboratory exercise in which students follow a slightly modified version of Stratagene&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s QuikChange site-directed mutagenesis kit to effect a single amino acid change in ribonuclease Sa. From the students&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; perspective, they are performing an authentic mutagenesis reaction. However, by judicious substitution of most of the reagents, the exercise has been made economically feasible for implementation in large classes while still providing students the opportunity to learn not only the underlying theory of site-directed mutagenesis but also a host of associated concepts such as transcription, translation, PCR, DNA methylation, restriction digests, transformations, and blue/white screening. Just as importantly, this exercise simulates a wide range of mutagenesis failures, allowing students the opportunity to troubleshoot an experiment by carefully analyzing the results of positive and negative controls, thus helping to develop analytical thinking skills in a way that simply would not happen if students&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; experiments &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;worked.&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;

Development of a green fluorescent protein-based laboratory curriculum

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 2005

A laboratory curriculum has been designed for an undergraduate biochemistry course that focuses o... more A laboratory curriculum has been designed for an undergraduate biochemistry course that focuses on the investigation of the green fluorescent protein (GFP). The sequence of procedures extends from analysis of the DNA sequence through PCR amplification, recombinant plasmid DNA synthesis, bacterial transformation, expression, isolation, and characterization of the protein by SDS‐PAGE. A survey of participants found that the majority of them were performing most of these procedures for the first time and that participants found the exercises enjoyable and considered them a significant aid to their understanding of biochemistry, cell biology, and molecular genetics.

Attributions in Narrative Writing

This lecture reviews the reasons citations are important and then explains the differences betwee... more

Correlations and Probability

In this lecture, students discuss correlations, probabilities, and the importance of quality data

Central Limit Theorem, Hypothesis Testing, Polling, and Regression

In this lecture, students review important statistics concepts such as the central limit theorem,... more

Cultural diversity really is like biological diversity: reply to comments on The Nature of Religious Diversity: A Cultural Ecosystem Approach

Religion, brain and behavior, Jun 16, 2016

We are grateful to the commentators for their stimulating reflections on our target article. Most... more We are grateful to the commentators for their stimulating reflections on our target article. Most but not all are supportive of the cultural ecosystem approach and many of the supportive comments go beyond our own contribution in developing the approach. A number of major themes emerged in the commentaries that we will attempt to address by organizing our reply into the following categories: 1) Biological units and units of selection; 2) Field sites for the study of cultural evolution; 3) Forming testable hypotheses; 4) More on tightness and looseness; and 5) Cultural Diversity vs. Religious Diversity. Biological units and units of selection: The biological sciences abound with units: organs, organisms, single-species groups, multi-species ecosystems, and higherlevel taxonomic units such as genera, families, and phyla. Some of these units are discrete and easy to identify (e.g, an organism or a termite colony), others have fuzzy boundaries (e.g., most ecosystems), some are notoriously hard to define (e.g., species), and some are more salient to the biologist than to the interacting organisms (e.g., higher-level taxonomic categories). This might seem dauntingly complex (Zeitlyn, Tucker), but biologists manage to turn all of these units into productive research programs. The cultural ecosystem approach strives to do the same for the study of cultural diversity, without requiring point-for-point correspondences. Cultural inheritance mechanisms do not require "memes" that correspond to genes, for example (Henrich, Boyd and Richerson 2008).

Download

Sacred text as cultural genome: an inheritance mechanism and method for studying cultural evolution

Religion, brain and behavior, Jul 26, 2016

ABSTRACT Any process of evolution requires a mechanism of inheritance for the transmission of inf... more ABSTRACT Any process of evolution requires a mechanism of inheritance for the transmission of information across generations and the expression of phenotypes during each generation. Genetic inheritance mechanisms have been studied for over a century but mechanisms of inheritance for human cultural evolution are far less well understood. Sacred religious texts have the properties required for an inheritance system. They are replicated across generations with high fidelity and are transcribed into action every generation by the invocation and interpretation of selected passages. In this article we borrow concepts and methods from genetics and epigenetics to study the “expressed phenotypes” of six Christian churches that differ along a conservative–progressive axis. Their phenotypic differences, despite drawing upon the same sacred text, can be explained in part by differential expression of the sacred text. Since the invocation and interpretation of sacred texts are often well preserved, our methods allow the expressed phenotypes of religious groups to be studied at any time and place in history.

Writing as Business

In this lecture, students learn a little about how writing can become a lucrative and satisfying ... more

Download

Triangulation Paper Writing Prompt

VIBS 310 Week 4: Structure of Story and Journal Articles

VIBS 310 Course Syllabus, Fall 2019

This is the fall 2019 syllabus for VIBS 310: Biomedical Writing

How a Scientific Study Becomes a Paper

These are lecture notes for the final session in VIBS 310. In it, I cover the complex process by ... more

Assuaging the doubts of Thomas: the need for robustness in the institution of supernatural punishment

Religion, brain and behavior, Jun 29, 2017

VIBS 310 Week 5: What is a Literature Review?

VIBS 311, Biomedical Explorations through Narrative, Syllabus-Spring 2020

This is the spring syllabus for VIBS 311, Biomedical Explorations Through Narrative. This is a cr... more

VIBS 310 Week 3: Scientific Abstracts and Information Overload

VIBS 311 Course Syllabus, Fall 2019

This is the fall 2019 syllabus for VIBS 311: Biomedical Explorations through Narrative

What is Writing

In this lecture, students are asked the question, what is writing? This lecture explores multiple... more

VIBS 310, Biomedical Writing, Syllabus-Spring 2020

This is the spring 2020 syllabus for VIBS 310-Biomedical Writing. As the name suggests, this is a... more

Influences of Large State Research University on Student Religious Beliefs and Practices*

Religion & Education, May 4, 2018

Download

Faux mutagenesis: Teaching troubleshooting through controlled failure

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 2006

Development of a green fluorescent protein-based laboratory curriculum

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 2005

Attributions in Narrative Writing

This lecture reviews the reasons citations are important and then explains the differences betwee... more

Correlations and Probability

In this lecture, students discuss correlations, probabilities, and the importance of quality data

Central Limit Theorem, Hypothesis Testing, Polling, and Regression

In this lecture, students review important statistics concepts such as the central limit theorem,... more

Cultural diversity really is like biological diversity: reply to comments on The Nature of Religious Diversity: A Cultural Ecosystem Approach

Religion, brain and behavior, Jun 16, 2016

Download

Sacred text as cultural genome: an inheritance mechanism and method for studying cultural evolution

Religion, brain and behavior, Jul 26, 2016

The Evolutionary Review: Art, Science, Culture (Vol 3, 2012)

by Alice Andrews, John Johnson, Michelle Scalise Sugiyama, Yasha Hartberg, and William Tooke

The Evolutionary Review (TER) provides a forum for evolutionary critiques in all the fields of th... more The Evolutionary Review (TER) provides a forum for evolutionary critiques in all the fields of the arts, human sciences, and culture: essays and reviews on film, fiction, theater, visual art, music, dance, and popular culture; essays and reviews of books, articles, and theories related to evolution and evolutionary psychology; and essays and reviews on science, society, and the environment. Essays in TER implicitly affirm E. O. Wilson's vision of "consilience," that is, the unity of knowledge. They also give evidence that an evolutionary perspective can yield a richer, more complete understanding of the world and ourselves. Criteria for selecting essays include depth and seriousness in evolutionary thinking, imaginative force, and excellence of style. Potential contributors should establish a distinct, individual point of view, avoiding academese and neutral summary. The editors value incisiveness and clarity, energy, wit and humor, vivid language and striking imagery, tonal nuance, and a knack for engaging the interest of readers. For submission guidelines, see www.evolutionaryreview.com.

Download

Robustness and Evolvability in Cultural Systems: Identifying Robust Cultural Elements and Mapping Cultural Inheritance Systems

Complex adaptive systems must be robust. That is to say they must be able to maintain themselves ... more Complex adaptive systems must be robust. That is to say they must be able to maintain themselves in the face of perturbations. This property has been most extensively studied in genes and proteins. However, it has also been well characterized for processes at higher levels of complexity ranging from metabolic pathways to organismal development. In this dissertation, I argue that robustness is also a property of cultural systems. This follows both from a logical extension of the needs of adaptive systems more generally and from descriptive studies in a number of disciplines that, although never undertaken from an expressly evolutionary perspective, nevertheless suggest culturally robust processes at work. In addition to proposing a basic theoretical framework for understanding cultural robustness, this dissertation also lays methodological foundations for 1) identifying robust cultural constructs and 2) studying cultural inheritance systems. It does so through three studies. The first explores how groups activate religion in the management of common pool resources. The second focuses on the institution of supernatural punishment within the context of community based resource management. The third considers sacred texts as cultural inheritance systems and pioneers new methods for measuring and tracking cultural change. Among other things, these studies suggest that religious beliefs may provide robustness to many institutions related to the sustainable management of natural resources, that at least some of these beliefs may be constituted in a way that makes them robust to skepticism, and that changes to these beliefs can be tracked in part through how groups engage with their sacred texts.

Download

Yasha Hartberg

Related Authors

Uploads

Papers by Yasha Hartberg

Log In