Alex Bentley                       

This work applies cultural evolution theory toward case studies ranging from the prehistoric past, to 20th century words and values, to modern social media. Themes include the obesity crisis, generational change in cultural values and the popularity of words and ideas.

Publication highlights include a BBS paper, a New York Times column and book series with M.I.T. press (2019) and previous book with M.I.T., I'll Have What She's Having (2011) to The Acceleration of Cultural Change (2017) to The Importance of Small Decisions (2019).



 Other publications on cultural evolution (below):



• Shteynberg, G., J.B. Hirsh, R.A. Bentley & J. Garthoff (2020). Shared worlds and shared minds: A theory of collective learning and a psychology of common knowledge. Psychological Review , in press. 
• Bentley, R.A., J. Borycz, S. Carrignon, D. J. Ruck, M.J. O'Brien (2021). Machine learning for rediscovering revolutionary ideas of the past. Adaptive Behavior, in press.
• O’Brien, M.J. & R.A. Bentley (2021). Genes, culture, and the human niche: An overview. Evolutionary Anthropology, in press.
• O'Brien, M.J. & R.A. Bentley (2020). A long view of cumulative technological culture. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 43: e174.
• Ruck, D.J., R.A. Bentley & D.J. Lawson (2020). Cultural prerequistes for socioeconomic development. Cultural prerequistes for socioeconomic development. Royal Society Open Science 7(2): 190725.
• Ruck, D.J. L.J. Matthews,. T. Kyritsis, Q.D. Atkinson, R.A. Bentley (2020). The cultural foundations of modern democracies. Nature Human Behaviour, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-019-0769-1.
• Bentley, R.A., D.J. Ruck & H.N. Fouts (2020). U.S. obesity as delayed effect of excess sugar. Economics and Human Biology 36: article 100818.
• Carrignon, S. R.A. Bentley & D.J. Ruck (2019). Modelling rapid online cultural transmission: evaluating neutral models on Twitter data with approximate Bayesian computation. Palgrave Communications 5, article 83. 
• Ruck, D.J., N.M. Rice, J. Borycz, and R.A. Bentley (2019) Internet Research Agency Twitter activity predicted 2016 U.S. election polls. First Monday, 1 July 2019.
• Bentley, R.A., P. Ormerod, D.J. Ruck (2018) Recent origin and evolution of obesity-income correlation across the United States. Palgrave Communications 4: article 146. 
• Ruck, D.J., R.A. Bentley and D.J. Lawson (2018). Religious change preceded economic change in the 20th century. Science Advances 4(7): eaar8680.
• Bentley, R.A., C.N. Ross and M. J. O’Brien (2018). Obesity, metabolism, and aging: A multiscalar approach. Progress in Molecular Biology and Translational Science 155: 25-42.
• O’Brien M.J & R.A. Bentley (2017) Dual inheritance, cultural transmission, and niche construction. In The Handbook of Culture and Biology (J. Causadilas, E. H. Teller & N. A. Gonzales, eds.): 179-202. Wiley.
• Ruck, D.,  R.A. Bentley, A. Acerbi, P. Garnett & D.J. Hruschka (2017) Role of neutral evolution in word turnover during centuries of English word popularity. Advances in Complex Systems 20: 1750012.
• Bentley, R.A. and M.J. O’Brien (2017) Food insecurity as a driver of obesity in humans: The insurance hypothesis (comment). Behavior and Brain Science, in press.
• Garnett, P., S. Mollan & R.A. Bentley (2017) Banks, births, and tipping points in the historical demography of British banking. Business History 59:814-820.
• Bentley, R.A., W.A. Brock, C.C.S. Caiado and M.J. O’Brien (2016). Evaluating reproductive decisions as discrete choices under social influence. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 371: 20150154.
• Caiado, C.C.S., W.A Brock, R.A. Bentley and M.J O'Brien (2016). Fitness landscapes among many options under social influence. Journal of Theoretical Biology 405: 5–16.
• Bentley, R.A. and M.J. O’Brien (2016) Comment on “The Evolution of Cultural Complexity,” by Andersson and Read. Current Anthropology 57: 277-278.
• Bentley, R.A. & M.J. O’Brien (2015) Collective behaviour, uncertainty and environmental change. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A 373(2055), DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2014.0461.
• Brock, W.A., M.J. O’Brien &  R.A. Bentley (2016). Validating niche-construction theory through path analysis. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 8(4): 819-837.
• Bentley, R.A., C.C.S. Caiado & P. Ormerod (2015). Complexity in spatial dynamics. In (J. Bissell et al. eds) Tipping Points: Modelling Social Problems and Health: Chapter 8. Chichester: Wiley.
• O’Brien, M.J., M.T. Boulanger, B. Buchanan, R.A. Bentley, R.L. Lyman, C.P. Lipo, M.E. Madsen & M.I. Eren (2015) Design space and cultural transmission. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 23: 692-740.
• Bentley, R.A., M.J. O'Brien & W.A. Brock (2014). Mapping collective behavior in the big-data era. Behavioral & Brain Sciences 37: 63-119.
• Bentley RA, Maddison EJ, Ranner PH, Bissell J, Caiado CCS, Bhatanacharoen P, Clark T, Botha M, Akinbami F, Hollow M, Michie R, Huntley B, Curtis SE and Garnett P (2014). Social tipping points and Earth systems dynamics. Frontiers in Environmental Science 2:35.
• Bentley, R.A., C.C.S. Caiado & P. Ormerod (2015) Complexity in spatial dynamics: The emergence of homogeneity/heterogeneity in culture in cities. In Tipping Points: Modelling Social Problems and Health (J. Bissell, C.C.S. Caiado, S. Curtis, M. Goldstein, B. Straughan, eds): Chapter 8. Chichester: Wiley.
• Bentley, R.A., A. Acerbi, V. Lampos, P. Ormerod (2014). Books average previous decade of economic misery.  PLoS ONE 9(1): e83147.

• Bentley, R.A., C. Caiado & P. Ormerod (2014). Effects of memory on spatial heterogeneity in neutrally transmitted culture. Evolution & Human Behavior 35: 257-263.
• Brock, W.A., R.A. Bentley, M.J. O'Brien & C.C.S. Caiado (2014). Estimating a path through a map of decision making. PLoS ONE 9(11): e111022. 
• Acerbi, A. & R.A. Bentley (2014) Biases in cultural transmission shape the turnover of popular traits. Evolution & Human Behavior 35: 228 - 236.
• Garnett, P., S. Mollan & R.A. Bentley (2015) Complexity in history: modelling the organizational demography of the British banking sector. Business History, in press. 
• Acerbi, A., V. Lampos & R.A. Bentley (2013) Robustness of emotion extraction from 20th century English books. IEEE BigData 2013 Proceedings.
• Acerbi, A., V. Lampos, P. Garnett & R.A. Bentley (2013) The expression of emotions in 20th century books. PLoS ONE 8(3): e59030.
• Bentley, R.A. & M.J. O’Brien (2012). Cultural evolutionary tipping points in the storage and transmission of information. Frontiers in Psychology 3: article 569.
• Bentley, R.A., P. Garnett, M.J. O’Brien & W.A Brock (2012). Word diffusion and climate science. PLoS ONE 7(11): e47966. [NY Times column].
• Bentley, R.A., M. Earls and M.J. O'Brien (2012). Mapping human behavior for business. European Business Review, May-June 2012: 23-26.
• Bentley, R.A. & P. Ormerod (2012). Accelerated innovation and increased spatial diversity in U.S. popular culture. Advances in Complex Systems 15: 1150011.
• Bentley, R.A. and M.J. O'Brien (2012). Tipping points, animal culture and social learning. Current Zoology 58: 298-306.
• Ormerod, P., B. Tarbush & R.A. Bentley (2012). Social network markets: the influence of network structure when consumers face decisions over many similar choices. arXiv:1210.1646.
• Earls, Mark & Alex Bentley (2011). Behavioural change: I’ll have what she’s having. Admap (Oct).
• Bentley, R.A., M.J. O'Brien and P. Ormerod (2011). Quality versus mere popularity: a conceptual map for understanding human behaviour. Mind & Society 10: 181-191.
• Bentley, R.A., P. Ormerod & M. Batty (2011). Evolving social influence in large populations. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 65:537–546.
• Bentley, R.A., P. Ormerod & S.J. Shennan (2011). Population-level neutral model already explains linguistic patterns. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 278:1770-1772.
• Bentley, R.A. & M.J. O’Brien (2011). The selectivity of social learning and the tempo of cultural evolution. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology 9: 125-141.
• O’Brien, M.J. & R.A. Bentley (2011). Stimulated variation and cascades: Two processes in the evolution of complex technological systems. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 18: 309-335.
• Bentley, R.A. and M.W. Hahn (2011). Is there a “Neutral Theory of Anthropology”? (Comment on Lansing and Cox). Current Anthropology 52: 117-118.
• Ormerod, P.& R.A. Bentley (2011). Modelling creative innovation. Journal of Cultural Science 3: 1-15.
• Bentley, R.A. & P. Ormerod, (2011). Agents, intelligence, and social atoms. In Creating Consilience: Reconciling Science and the Humanities (M. Collard & E. Slingerland, eds.). Oxford University Press.
• Byers, B.E., K.L. Belinsky and R.A. Bentley (2010). Independent cultural evolution of two song traditions in the chestnut-sided warbler. American Naturalist 176: 476–489. [ScienceNow summary]
• Bentley, R.A. & P. Ormerod (2010). A rapid method for assessing social versus independent interest in health issues: A case study of 'bird flu' And 'swine flu'. Social Science and Medicine 71: 482-485.
• Bentley, R.A. (2011). ‘Style versus function’ 30 years on. In Evolutionary and Interpretive Archaeologies (E. Cochrane & A. Gardner, eds.): 83-104. Left Coast Press.
• Bentley, R.A., P. Ormerod & M. Batty (2009). An evolutionary model of long tailed distributions in the social sciences. arXiv preprints 0903.2533.
• Bentley, R.A. & P. Ormerod (2009). Traditional models already explain adoption-abandonment pattern (comment). PNAS 106(39): E109.
• Bentley, R.A. & P. Ormerod (2009). Tradition and fashion in consumer choice. Scottish Journal of Political Economy 56: 371-381.
• Bentley, R.A., P. Ormerod & M.E. Madsen (2009). Physical space and long-tail markets. Physica A 388: 691–696.
• Bentley, R.A. 2009. Fashion versus reason in the creative industries. In Innovation in Cultural Systems: Contributions from Evolutionary Anthropology(M.J. O'Brien & S.J. Shennan, eds): 121-126. MIT Press.
• Earls, Mark & Alex Bentley (2009). How ideas spread. Research World (April): 13-17.
• Thomson, Scott & Alex Bentley (2009). Why it's essential to put the 'market' back into marketing. Admap (Oct): 15-17.
• Bentley, R.A. (2008). Random drift versus selection in academic vocabulary. PLoS ONE 3(8): e3057.
• Bentley, R.A & M. Earls (2008). Forget influentials, herd-like copying is how brands spread. Admap (Nov): 19-22.
• Hill, R.A., R.A. Bentley & R.I.M. Dunbar (2008). Network scaling reveals consistent fractal pattern in hierarchical mammalian societies. Biology Letters 4: 748-751.
• Riede, F. & R.A. Bentley (2008). Increasing the relevance of mathematical approaches to demographic history. Quality and Quantity 42(2): 275-281.
• Bentley, R.A., C.P. Lipo, H.A. Herzog & M.W. Hahn (2007). Regular rates of popular culture change reflect random copying. Evolution and Human Behavior 28: 151-158.
• Bentley, R.A. 2007. Why do team-authored papers get cited more? (Comment). Science 317: 1496.
• Bentley, R.A. 2007. Fashion versus reason – then and now. Antiquity 81: 1071-1073.
• Bentley R.A. 2007. Social complexity in behavioral models. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 30: 19.
• Bentley, R.A. & H.D.G. Maschner 2007. Complexity Theory. In Handbook of Archaeological Theories (R.A. Bentley, H.D.G. Maschner & C. Chippendale, eds.): 245-270. AltaMira Press.
• Bentley, R.A., C. Lipo, H.D.G. Maschner & B. Marler 2007. Darwinian Archaeologies. In Handbook of Archaeological Theories ( R.A. Bentley, H.D.G. Maschner & C. Chippendale, eds.): 109-132. AltaMira.
• Collard, M., S.J. Shennan, B. Buchanan & R.A. Bentley 2007. Evolutionary biological methods and cultural data. In Handbook of Archaeological Theories(R.A. Bentley, H.D.G. Maschner & C. Chippendale, eds.): 203-223. AltaMira.
• Bentley, R.A. 2006. Academic copying, archaeology and the English language. Antiquity 80: 196-201.
• Bentley, R.A. & S.J. Shennan 2005. Random copying and cultural evolution (Comment). Science 309: 877-879.
• Bentley, R.A., M.W. Hahn & S.J. Shennan 2004. Random drift and culture change. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 271: 1443-1450.
• Herzog, H.A., R. A. Bentley & M. W. Hahn 2004. Random drift and large shifts in popularity of dog breeds. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 271: S353-S356.
• Hahn, M.W & R.A. Bentley 2003. Drift as a mechanism for cultural change: An example from baby names. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 270: S120-S123.
• Bentley, R.A. & S.J. Shennan 2003. Cultural transmission and stochastic network growth. American Antiquity 68: 459-485.
• Bentley, R.A. & H.D.G. Maschner 2001. Stylistic change as a self-organized critical phenomenon? Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 8: 35-65.
•  Bentley, R.A. & H.D.G. Maschner 2000. A growing network of ideas. Fractals 8: 227-238.
• R.A. Bentley & H.D.G. Maschner 1999. Subtle criticality in popular album charts. Advances in Complex Systems 2: 197-209.

Ruck, D.J., R.A. Bentley & D.J. Lawson (2020). Cultural prerequistes for socioeconomic development. Royal Society Open Science, in press.

Bentley, R.A., J. Borycz, S. Carrignon, D. J. Ruck, M.J. O'Brien (2021). Machine learning for rediscovering revolutionary ideas of the past. Adaptive Behavior, in press.

Bentley, R.A., B. Pradier, A.A. Kyaw, T.O. Pryce (2021) Kinship and migration in prehistoric Mainland Southeast Asia: An overview of isotopic evidence. Archaeological Research in Asia, in press.

O’Brien, M.J. & R.A. Bentley (2021). Genes, culture, and the human niche: An overview. Evolutionary Anthropology, in press.