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The social side of innovation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 August 2020

Bruce Rawlings Open the ORCID record for Bruce Rawlings [Opens in a new window]  and
Cristine H. Legare Open the ORCID record for Cristine H. Legare [Opens in a new window]
Bruce Rawlings
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX78712. bruce.rawlings@utexas.edu chlegare@gmail.com https://www.brucerawlings.com/ http://www.cristinelegare.com/
Cristine H. Legare
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX78712. bruce.rawlings@utexas.edu chlegare@gmail.com https://www.brucerawlings.com/ http://www.cristinelegare.com/
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Abstract

Innovation is fundamental to cumulative culture, allowing progressive modification of existing technology. The authors define innovation as an asocial process, uninfluenced by social information. We argue that innovation is inherently social – innovation is frequently the product of modifying others' outputs, and successful innovations are acquired by others. Research should target examination of the cognitive underpinnings of socially-mediated innovations.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 43 , 2020 , e175
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

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