AUTHORS' RESPONSE: Toward an Integrative Understanding of Evoked and Transmitted Culture: The Importance of Specialized Psychological Design

Nearly all commentators agree on several fundamental arguments of our target article: (a) Cultural and evolutionary views of behavior are complementary and integratable, not necessarily opposing, explanations; (b) cultural phenomena are produced by psychological adaptations; and (c) cultural variation results from an evolved psychology interacting with environments that humans both encounter and actively create. Our response strives toward a comprehensive, integrative, evolutionary perspective on cultural phenomena and emphasizes several themes also noted by commentators: (a) Psychological adaptations that underlie culture must be rigorously specified; (b) theories about these adaptations must be consistent with the fundamental tenets of modern evolutionary theory; (c) adaptations underlying culture will be many in number; (d) adaptations should be explored at multiple levels of analysis; (e) contemporaneous transmission processes are crucial for a complete understanding of culture; and (f) progress in understanding both evoked and transmitted culture, as well as the ways in which they interact, will hinge on increasingly specific scientific descriptions of "culture."