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Anne Kandler

Research staff

Abteilung für Verhalten, Ökologie und Kultur des Menschen
Max-Planck-Institut für evolutionäre Anthropologie
Deutscher Platz 6
04103 Leipzig

Telefon: +49 (0) 341 3550 307
E-Mail: anne_kandler@[>>> Please remove the text! <<<]eva.mpg.de

I am an applied mathematician interested in the underlying principles of cultural change especially in changing environmental conditions. Cultural change is often expressed by frequency changes of cultural traits, i.e. behaviour learnt socially, within and across populations. Social learning, however, can occur in a large variety of ways and my research aims at establishing why certain learning mechanisms evolved and in which situations they are expected to be present.  In particular I am interested in bridging theoretical and empirical work in cultural evolution and focus on understanding the limits of inferability of underlying evolutionary processes from population-level data. I explore the question of how much information about social learning mechanisms is contained in observed frequency distributions describing a specific episode of cultural change. To do so I develop simulation and statistical inference methods to create frameworks for analysing cultural change accounting for the problem of equifinality.

Curriculum Vitae

Education and Employment

2016-presentSenior Scientist
Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Leipzig, Germany
2012-2016Lecturer (Assistant Professor)
Department of Mathematics
City, University of London, UK
2010-2012Omidyar Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Santa Fe Institute, USA
2008-2010Leverhulme Trust Early Career Postdoctoral Research Fellow
UCL Centre for the Evolution of Cultural Diversity, UK
(with James Steele)
2006-2008Postdoctoral Research Associate
UCL Centre for the Evolution of Cultural Diversity, UK
(with James Steele and Kevin Laland)
2006PhD in Applied Mathematics
“Parabolic initial boundary value problems with random boundary and initial conditions”
University of Technology Chemnitz, Germany
2001Diploma in Mathematics and Business
University of Technology Chemnitz, Germany

Grant and Awards

2014LMS New Lecturer conference grant
2012NSF EAGER grant “Linking Pattern and Process in Cultural Evolution”
together with Laura Fortunato (Santa Fe Institute)
2010Gabriel W. Lasker Prize for the paper “Demography and language competition”
(awarded by Human Biology for the best article published in 2009)
2010Omidyar Fellowship (Santa Fe Institute)
2008Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship

Publications

2023

Ammar, M., Fogarty, L., & Kandler, A. (2023). Social learning and memory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(33): e2310033120.
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Kandler, A., Fogarty, L., & Karsdorp, F. (2023). The interplay between age structure and cultural transmission. PLOS Computational Biology, 19: e1011297.
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Galesic, M., Barkoczi, D., Berdahl, A. M., Biro, D., Carbone, G., Giannoccaro, I., Goldstone, R. L., Gonzalez, C., Kandler, A., Kao, A. B., Kendal, R., Kline, M., Lee, E., Massari, G. F., Mesoudi, A., Olsson, H., Pescetelli, N., Sloman, S. J., Smaldino, P. E., & Stein, D. L. (2023). Beyond collective intelligence: Collective adaptation. Journal of The Royal Society Interface, 20: 20220736.
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Kandler, A., & Unger, R. (2023). Modeling Language Shift. In A. Bunde, J. Caro, C. Chmelik, J. Kärger, & G. Vogl (Eds.), Diffusive spreading in nature, technology and society (2nd Edition) (pp. 365-387). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
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2022

Chimento, M., Barrett, B. J., Kandler, A., & Aplin, L. M. (2022). Cultural diffusion dynamics depend on behavioural production rules. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 289(1980): 20221001.
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Deffner, D., Kandler, A., & Fogarty, L. (2022). Effective population size for culturally evolving traits. PLoS Computational Biology, 18(4): e1009430.
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Fogarty, L., Ammar, M., Holding, T. M., Powell, A., & Kandler, A. (2022). Ten simple rules for principled simulation modelling. PLoS Computational Biology, 18(3): e1009917.
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2020

Fogarty, L., & Kandler, A. (2020). The fundamentals of cultural adaptation: Implications for human adaptation. Scientific Reports, 10: 14318.
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Trimmer, P. C., McElreath, R., Auster, S., Brown, G. D. A., Dana, J., Gigerenzer, G., Golman, R., Hilbe, C., Kandler, A., Kareev, Y., Schooler, L. J., & Szech, N. (2020). The zoo of models of deliberate ignorance. In R. Hertwig, & C. Engel (Eds.), Deliberate ignorance: Choosing not to know (pp. 155-183). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
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2019

Yeh, J., Fogarty, L., & Kandler, A. (2019). Cultural linkage: The influence of package transmission on cultural dynamics. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 286: 20191951.
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Deffner, D., & Kandler, A. (2019). Trait specialization, innovation and the evolution of culture in fluctuating environments. Palgrave Communications, 5: 147.
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Kandler, A., & Crema, E. R. (2019). Analysing cultural frequency data: Neutral theory and beyond. In A. Prentiss (Ed.), Handbook of Evolutionary Research in Archaeology (pp. 83-108). Cham: Springer.
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2018

Kandler, A., & Powell, A. (2018). Generative inference for cultural evolution. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences, 373(1743): 20170056.
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2017

O'Dwyer, J. P., & Kandler, A. (2017). Inferring processes of cultural transmission: The critical role of rare variants in distinguishing neutrality from novelty biases. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences, 372(1735): 20160426.
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ElBahrawy, A., Alessandretti, L., Kandler, A., Pastor-Satorras, R., & Baronchelli, A. (2017). Evolutionary dynamics of the cryptocurrency market. Royal Society Open Science, 4: 170623.
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Kandler, A., Wilder, B., & Fortunato, L. (2017). Inferring individual-level processes from population-level patterns in cultural evolution. Royal Society Open Science, 4: 170949.
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Kandler, A., & Steele, J. (2017). Modeling language shift. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(19), 4851-4853.
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2016

Crema, E. R., Kandler, A., & Shennan, S. (2016). Revealing patterns of cultural transmission from frequency data: Equilibrium and non-equilibrium assumptions. Scientific Reports, 6: 39122.
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Kura, K., Broom, M., & Kandler, A. (2016). A game-theoretical winner and loser model of dominance hierarchy formation. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, 78(6), 1259-1290.
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Caldwell, C. A., Cornish, H., & Kandler, A. (2016). Identifying innovation in laboratory studies of cultural evolution: Rates of retention and measures of adaptation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, 371(1690): 20150193.
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Kandler, A., & Caccioli, F. (2016). Networks, homophily, and the spread of innovations. In T. Brughmans, A. Collar, & F. Coward (Eds.), The connected past: Challenges to network studies in archaeology and history (First edition, pp. 175-198). Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
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2015

Kura, K., Broom, M., & Kandler, A. (2015). Modelling dominance hierarchies under winner and loser effects. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, 77(6), 927-952.
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Kandler, A., & Powell, A. (2015). Inferring learning strategies from cultural frequency data. In A. Mesoudi, & K. Aoki (Eds.), Learning strategies and cultural evolution during the Palaeolithic (pp. 85-101). Tokyo: Springer Japan.
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Kandler, A., & Shennan, S. (2015). A generative inference framework for analysing patterns of cultural change in sparse population data with evidence for fashion trends in LBK culture. Journal of the Royal Society, Interface, 12(113): 20150905.
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Wilder, B., & Kandler, A. (2015). Inference of cultural transmission modes based on incomplete information. Human Biology, 87(3), 193-204.
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2013

Kandler, A., & Laland, K. N. (2013). Tradeoffs between the strength of conformity and number of conformists in variable environments. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 332, 191-202.
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Kandler, A., & Shennan, S. (2013). A non-equilibrium neutral model for analysing cultural change. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 330, 18-25.
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Dediu, D., Cysouw, M., Levinson, S. C., Baronchelli, A., Christiansen, M. H., Croft, W., Evans, N., Garrod, S., Gray, R. D., Kandler, A., & Lieven, E. (2013). Cultural evolution of language. In P. J. Richerson, & M. H. Christiansen (Eds.), Cultural evolution: Society, technology, language, and religion (pp. 303-334). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
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2012

Burke, A., Kandler, A., & Good, D. (2012). Women who know their place: Sex-based differences in spatial abilities and their evolutionary significance. Human Nature, 23(2), 133-148.
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Kandler, A., Perreault, C., & Steele, J. (2012). Cultural evolution in spatially structured populations: A review of alternative modeling frameworks. Advances in Complex Systems, 15(1-2): 1203001.
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2010

Kandler, A., Unger, R., & Steele, J. (2010). Language shift, bilingualism and the future of Britain's Celtic languages. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 365(1559), 3855-3864.
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Steele, J., & Kandler, A. (2010). Language trees ≠ gene trees. Theory in Biosciences, 129(2-3), 223-233.
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Hoppitt, W., Kandler, A., Kendal, J. R., & Laland, K. N. (2010). The effect of task structure on diffusion dynamics: Implications for diffusion curve and network-based analyses. Learning & Behavior, 38(3), 243-251.
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Steele, J., Glatz, C., & Kandler, A. (2010). Ceramic diversity, random copying, and tests for selectivity in ceramic production. Journal of Archaeological Science, 37(6), 1348-1358.
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2009

Kandler, A., & Laland, K. N. (2009). An investigation of the relationship between innovation and cultural diversity. Theoretical Population Biology, 76(1), 59-67.
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Kandler, A. (2009). Demography and language competition. Human Biology, 81(2-3), 181-210.
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Kandler, A., & Steele, J. (2009). Innovation diffusion in time and space: Effects of social information and of income inequality. In Diffusion Fundamentals III: Athens 2009 (pp. 82-98). Leipzig: Leipziger Universitätsverlag.
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Kandler, A., & Steele, J. (2009). Social learning, economic inequality, and innovation diffusion. In M. O'Brien, & S. J. Shennan (Eds.), Innovation in cultural systems: Contributions from evolutionary anthropology (pp. 193-216). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
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Kandler, A., Richter, M., & von Scheidt, J. (2009). Second order moments of solutions of parabolic initial boundary value problems with ε-correlated random parameters. Dynamic Systems and Application, 18(2), 143-160.
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2008

Kandler, A., & Steele, J. (2008). Ecological models of language competition. Biological Theory, 3(2), 164-173.
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Kandler, A. (2008). Randanfangswertaufgaben mit zufälligen Anfangs- und Randbedingungen: Ein Vergleich alternativer Lösungstechniken. Saarbrücken: VDM Verlag Dr. Müller.
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2006

Kandler, A. (2006). Parabolische Randanfangswertaufgaben mit zufälliger Anfangs- und Randbedingung. PhD Thesis, Technische Univ., Chemnitz.
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