Abstract
In 2009, Tennie et al. proposed the theory of the Zone of Latent Solutions (ZLS), defined as the range of behaviors (solutions) an individual of a species can invent independently, i.e., which it can acquire without any form of social learning. By definition, species limited to their ZLS are unable to innovate and/or transmit behavioral traits outside their ZLS, i.e., they lack traits which go beyond the level of the individual—traits resulting from a gradual cultural evolution over successive transmission events [“cumulative culture”, Boyd and Richerson (Proc Br Acad 88:73–93, 1996)]. However, this does not exclude an influence of social learning on the population frequency of these behaviors: social learning can facilitate the (ultimately individual) acquisition of latent solutions and thus speed up and consolidate their spread within a population. Cultures—defined as behaviors at least influenced by social learning—are therefore still possible (and often, even likely). Here, we elaborate on the ZLS account and relate it to the theories of Vygotsky (Mind in Society: Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Harvard University Press, 1978) who studied the role of social learning in human culture. We argue that the ZLS is a missing phylogenetic “baseline” of Vygotsky’s Zone of Actual Development (ZAD). Vygotsky’s neglect of a need for a human “baseline ZAD” (namely, a human ZLS) may have been due to his (mis-)interpretation of Köhler’s (The Mentality of Apes. Liveright, 1925) work on great ape behaviors: Köhler used his observations on individual chimpanzees to draw conclusions about the chimpanzee species as a whole, stating that chimpanzees can only copy what they could have invented themselves, thus coming close to the ZLS concept. Vygotsky—studying the range of behaviors individuals could achieve independently—seemingly did not see that Köhler was suggesting a species “baseline” (ZLS), upon which Vygotsky’s idea of an individual’s ZAD could develop. As a result, Vygotsky also did not see the need for a ZLS for his own study subjects: humans. Yet, there is no reason to assume that humans lack a ZLS, and in fact we present evidence for a human ZLS for tool-use behaviors.
It is most difficult for chimpanzees to imitate anything, unless they themselves understand it.
Wolfgang Köhler, The Mentality of Apes, p. 157
Primates cannot be taught […] through imitation […], because they have no zone of proximal development.
Lev Vygotsky, Mind in Society, p. 88
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Notes
- 1.
Of course it is possible that some untrained or unenculturated great apes sometimes imitate—or in other ways learn something new. Current evidence suggests that this is rather unlikely and it is even less likely that such learning (reaching beyond the ZLS) underlies great ape “wild cultures.”
- 2.
Admittedly, these terms are somewhat cumbersome. But the topic at hand is somewhat complex, and the terms should also reflect this. Other terms may be used instead, if these are preferred [e.g., ZLS constrained/unconstrained or ZLS-only versus “ZLS + ZPD” or “ZLS + OCI” (for OCI, see below)].
- 3.
However, note that the chimpanzees were born in the wild (Teuber 1994), so we cannot fully exclude the possibility of cultural descent of these behaviors in these particular subjects.
- 4.
For a modern and extended version of this argument, see Kim Sterelny’s (2011) Apprentice Learning Model. Generally, this can be subsumed again under OCI.
- 5.
At times, there might also be ontogenetic stages after which the animals are no longer interested in engaging with the task and/or in developing different approaches to solve it.
- 6.
This hypothesis is not that far-fetched: in other domains, human reliance on cumulative culture has had deep impacts on our appearance and skills. For instance, our ability to cook food has led to shrinkage of our digestive organs, eventually making humans dependent on this cultural form of “pre-digesting” food (Henrich 2015; Wrangham 2009; Zink and Lieberman 2016).
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Reindl, E., Bandini, E., Tennie, C. (2018). The Zone of Latent Solutions and Its Relation to the Classics: Vygotsky and Köhler. In: Di Paolo, L.D., Di Vincenzo, F., De Petrillo, F. (eds) Evolution of Primate Social Cognition. Interdisciplinary Evolution Research, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93776-2_15
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