This article introduces an agent-based and a system-dynamics model investigating the cultural transmission of frequent collective rituals. It focuses on social function and cognitive attraction as independently affecting transmission. The models focus on the historical context of early Christian meals, where various theoretically inspiring trends in cultural transmission of rituals can be observed. The primary purpose of the article is to contribute to theorizing about cultural transmission of rituals by suggesting a clear operationalization of their social function and cognitive attraction. Furthermore, the article challenges recent trends in the field by providing a theoretically feasible model for how, under certain conditions, cognitive attraction can influence the transmission to a relatively greater extent than social function. In the system dynamics model we reproduce the results of our agent-based model while putting some of our basic operational assumptions under scrutiny. We consider approaching social function and cognitive attraction in isolation as a preliminary but necessary step in the process of creating more complex models of the cultural selection of rituals, where the two aspects will be combined to produce ritual forms with greater correspondence to real-world religious rituals.

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在Silico中为仪式的文化传播建模：基于Agent的vs系统动力学模型的优点和缺点

本文介绍了一种基于主体的系统动力学模型，用于研究频繁的集体仪式的文化传播。它着重于社会功能和认知吸引力，因为它们独立地影响着传播。这些模型侧重于早期基督徒用餐的历史背景，在该背景下，可以观察到各种在文化上传播仪式的理论启发性趋势。本文的主要目的是通过建议对仪式的社会功能和认知吸引力的明确实施，为理论的文化传播做出贡献。此外，本文通过提供一种理论上可行的模型来挑战该领域的最新趋势，该模型用于在某些条件下认知吸引力如何比社会功能更大程度地影响传播。在系统动力学模型中，我们重现了基于代理的模型的结果，同时对一些基本的操作假设进行了审查。我们认为孤立地处理社会功能和认知吸引力是创建更复杂的仪式文化选择模型过程中的第一步，但也是必不可少的步骤，在此过程中，这两个方面将结合起来以产生与现实世界的宗教信仰更相符的仪式形式仪式。