APHG 2.7 to 2.8 Day 22

independent invention

Innovations developed in two or more unconnected locations by individuals or groups acting independently. (syn: parallel invention, see also: multilinear evolution)

expansion diffusion

The spread of ideas, behaviors, or other culture traits from one place to another through direct or indirect contact and exchange of information; thhe diffusion increases the number of people or cultural groups practicing the trait while leaving the

innovation

Introduction of new culture traits, whether ideas, practices, or material objects.

acculturation

Cultural modification or change that results when one culture group or individual adopts traits of a dominant or host society; cultural development or change through “borrowing.”

contagious diffusion

A pattern of diffusion in which cultural innovations spread to closer places before they spread to further places (it reflects distance decay). This expansion diffusion typically results from direct contact between actual and potential adopters of the innovation, in a manner analogous to the spread of contagious diseases.

syncretism

The development of a new form of culture trait by the fusion of two or more distinct parental traits.

hierarchical diffusion

A pattern of diffusion in which cultural innovations spread by “jumping” between places of more importance (such as larger cities) before they spread to places of less importance; reverse of this diffusion from less important to more important places occurs less often.

relocation diffusion

The transport of ideas, behaviors, or articles from one place to another through the migration of those possessing the feature transported.

diffusion

The spread or movement of a phenomenon over space and through time. The dispersion of a culture trait, such as a new idea or practice, from an origin area (e.g., language, plant domestication, new industrial technology).