Cumulative cultural evolution differs from genetic change because it:

Cumulative cultural evolution differs from genetic change because it:

• A. involves natural selection on genetic traits
• B. relies on mutation rates within individuals
• C. builds on accumulated skills and knowledge across generations
• D. is independent of social learning

Answer: (C)

Cumulative cultural evolution hinges on information, skills, and practices that people learn from others and refine over generations. This process relies on social learning and transmission across individuals, so ideas and techniques can become more complex without any changes to the genes. Over time, cultural variants accumulate and improve because each generation can build on what others have already learned, leading to innovations that no single person could invent alone. That contrast with genetic change: genetic evolution shifts allele frequencies through natural selection, mutation, and drift in biological traits, not through the gradual buildup of learned knowledge. The other ideas don’t fit because genetic change depends on biological variation and selection, mutation rates within individuals don’t capture the social, cumulative nature of culture, and culture fundamentally requires social learning to accumulate across generations.

Cumulative cultural evolution hinges on information, skills, and practices that people learn from others and refine over generations. This process relies on social learning and transmission across individuals, so ideas and techniques can become more complex without any changes to the genes. Over time, cultural variants accumulate and improve because each generation can build on what others have already learned, leading to innovations that no single person could invent alone. That contrast with genetic change: genetic evolution shifts allele frequencies through natural selection, mutation, and drift in biological traits, not through the gradual buildup of learned knowledge. The other ideas don’t fit because genetic change depends on biological variation and selection, mutation rates within individuals don’t capture the social, cumulative nature of culture, and culture fundamentally requires social learning to accumulate across generations.