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Teaching and the acquisition of complex and opaque cultural skills and knowledge among the Koygu hunter-gatherers and Nyangatom pastoralists of southern Ethiopia

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: In order to adapt to diverse ecological and social settings, humans learn skills, norms, and knowledge from others. These skills and knowledge range from relatively transparent skills to complex cultural norms and rituals. The study utilized focal-follow behavioral observations of 60 children aged 3-18 years, to evaluate cultural evolutionary and social learning predictions about the relationship between teaching and learning opaque and complex skills and knowledge in small-scale cultures. Each child was observed for 2 hours during daylight hours between 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Data were gathered from the Koygu transitional hunter-gatherer and Nyangatom pastoralist cultures in southern Ethiopia. The study found that (1) teaching generally increased with child age, especially among the Nyangatom; (2) Nyangatom children were more likely to learn from their parents and other adults, whereas Koygu children were more likely to learn from other children, including siblings; (3) teaching was significantly related to the opacity of the skill or knowledge, but was not related to skill complexity, and (4) the relative proportion of transparent, complex and opaque skills or knowledge did not vary by child age.

Source: Frontiers in Psychology

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1849924

Authors: Temechegn G. Bira, Barry S. Hewlett, Edward H. Hagen

Institutions: Arba Minch University, Washington State University

Language: English

Topic: Language and cultural evolution

Subfield: Cultural Studies

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,801