?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Identifying+cases+of+social+contagion+using+memetic+isolation%3A+comparison+of+the+dynamics+of+a+multisociety+simulation+with+an+ethnographic+data+set&rft.creator=Gatherer%2C+Dr+Derek&rft.subject=Social+simulation&rft.description=A+simulation+is+presented+of+a+grid+of+connected+societies+of+reproducing+agents.+These+agents+are+capable+of+horizontal+and+vertical+transmission+of+non-genetic+cultural+traits+(memes).+This+simulation+exhibits+the+theoretically+predicted+effect+that+horizontally+transmitted+memes+are+less+likely%2C+overall%2C+to+be+encountered+in+geographical+isolation+than+strictly+vertically+transmitted+ones.+Furthermore%2C+when+horizontal+memes+are+under+cultural+selection%2C+and+thus+behave+'contagiously'%2C+their+likelihood+of+geographical+isolation+is+virtually+eliminated.+By+contrast%2C+natural+selection+has+far+weaker+effects+than+cultural+selection+in+reducing+geographical+isolation.+Thus+it+should+be+possible+to+identify+contagious+memes+by+an+examination+of+their+geographical+distribution.+The+degree+of+geographical+isolation+of+17+categories+of+postulated+cultural+traits+in+an+ethnographic+data+set+of+863+societies+is+then+examined%2C+and+compared+with+the+simulations%2C+using+z-tests.+Using+this+method%2C+the+empirical+data+can+be+sorted+into+four+broad+categories%2C+each+with+a+different+spectrum+of+probabilities+of+mode+of+transmission+and+contagion.&rft.publisher=JASSS&rft.contributor=Gatherer%2C+Dr+Derek&rft.date=2002-10&rft.type=Journal+(On-line%2FUnpaginated)&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=text%2Fhtml&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F4355%2F1%2F5.html&rft.identifier=++Gatherer%2C+Dr+Derek++(2002)+Identifying+cases+of+social+contagion+using+memetic+isolation%3A+comparison+of+the+dynamics+of+a+multisociety+simulation+with+an+ethnographic+data+set.++%5BJournal+(On-line%2FUnpaginated)%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F4355%2F